Man, you hate to think, wow, that loss was a good loss. Then you think, if UMBC doesn’t happen, maybe the 2019 national title doesn’t happen.
Might we look the same way at the Virginia Tech loss last November in Blacksburg?
Senior quarterback Bryce Perkins didn’t mince words talking with reporters about the Tech loss this week at the ACC Kickoff.
“I mean, I think the Virginia Tech loss was a great thing for our team going into the South Carolina game, because it kind of set the mindset about practice, how practice should be. Coming off a loss, the only thing that is going to make you feel better is the next week and a win,” said Perkins, who put up 371 yards of total offense and threw three touchdown passes in the loss at Virginia Tech, but also, yes, you remember, he fumbled on the last play, in overtime, in the 34-31 loss.
Senior cornerback Bryce Hall talked about the team learning a lesson about itself in the intervening three weeks.
“We saw what it looked like when we were prepared, when we were hungry, when we were practicing with a chip on our shoulder,” Hall said. “It just gave us momentum going forward. We can do whatever it is we want to do. It’s just up to us to earn it each and every week. When you see that, and coming off that win, it gives you confidence moving forward.”
The next step, to Perkins, is figuring out how to take that intensity moving forward.
“Looking after the South Carolina game, we have to make sure we know what it takes to perform at that level,” Perkins said. “Let’s not have it take a loss for us to get back to that level of competitiveness. We should start how we should. Definitely you can see if you come to our summer workouts we definitely have been training like that all summer.”
Story by Chris Graham
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