JUSTIN FUENTE: We’re looking forward to getting back on the field tonight as we begin preparation for next Thursday’s game with Georgia Tech. We’re happy to be back at home. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Kind of split time between getting some work with some of our young guys and also turning our eyes towards Georgia Tech.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. On the defense, overall how would you evaluate the way that side of the ball, the young guys, have picked things up at this point in the season?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Oh, some good and some bad. I think at times we’ve played pretty well. At times we’ve struggled. Each week is going to be a new challenge. It’s not necessarily a lot of carryover from week to week. You play in different schemes.
Obviously this week will be a unique challenge. But I like the way the kids are coming to work every single day, focusing on our improvement. We’ve got to have that over the next five or six weeks as we kind of come down to the second half of the season.
Q. Ryan’s Kansas stats are hard to gauge because of the sacks. Did his tape there show you that he had an ability to make some plays with his feet?
JUSTIN FUENTE: I mean, I didn’t watch a tremendous amount of his time at Kansas. I watched a little bit. Like I said, maybe a game or so of just watching him play, trying to assess his skill set. We do feel like he’s a good athlete, probably a better athlete than maybe we thought. Once he got here, saw him in the off-season program, run and lift, I mean, we had a little bit of an idea.
He’s probably, I would say, a better overall athlete than maybe we thought he was once we got him here and worked with him a little bit.
Q. About Georgia Tech, far different schematically with the change in defensive coordinators this season?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Yeah, they’ve gone from a four-down defensive front to a three-down. One of the only couple at least that we play, I know Virginia has been a three-down team. We don’t have many guys we play in this league that do that. It’s a little bit of a difference for us.
Very sound in what they’re doing. They understand the scheme and the adjustments they need to make. They have played pretty well.
Q. Obviously still pretty early in the conference schedule. Is it a bit of a different mindset entering an off weekend, being the team that’s in the lead, while there are still four or five teams that are trying to chase you, knock you off of the top of the division?
JUSTIN FUENTE: We haven’t messed with any of that. We are so young, we are just trying to get better. I really mean that. That’s not coach speak. We’ve been inconsistent. We’re really trying to focus on our team’s improvement.
We will have to get better over the next several weeks for us to have a chance with the games that we’re going to play. So we have spent zero time talking about that or messing with that.
I mean, first of all, we don’t have a traditional get-better bye week with our game being on Thursday. We’ll do a little bit of that with our young guys, but most of our focus is just on the next game.
Q. Dax Hollifield, what have you seen from his development? Why is he earning more playing time?
JUSTIN FUENTE: He’s just really worked hard. He spends a tremendous amount of extra time. Seems like he’s around all the time, getting extra work in the weight room, working hard on understanding his role defensively or on special teams. When he’s been given an opportunity he’s been productive. He brings a tremendous amount of energy.
He’s still got a long way to go, but it’s obviously something that’s very important to him, and he loves playing the game.
Q. Rayshard Ashby, he leads you guys in tackles, tackles for loss. Has he played as well as his numbers indicate?
JUSTIN FUENTE: I think so. I’m not sure what his numbers are. Seems like for the past whatever it is, seven or eight months, it’s somebody that we continue to talk about as being a consistent, smart, good football player for us. Not that he’s never made a mistake, but he certainly seems to learn quickly and has been very productive for us.
Q. How is Josh Jackson doing after his surgery? What kind of role do you have for him? Is he focused on rehab now or keep him engaged during practice?
JUSTIN FUENTE: First of all, he’s doing well. He’s been around quite a bit. It’s been a little bit cumbersome for him just getting around. Recovering from the surgery, moving around on crutches, all that kind of stuff. He hasn’t been out there in the middle of practice, but he’s been around quite a bit.
I think as he feels better, becomes a little more mobile, it will be easier for him to be around. He’s been at some practices, but it will be easier for him to be around practice more and more as the pain kind of goes away and he becomes a guy that can get around a little bit better.
Q. Do you have a timeline for him getting back into anything yet, for practice even, not games?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I’m projecting here, so I probably shouldn’t say anything. But I would think in the next couple weeks, he may be able to balance himself on two feet, play catch or something. I don’t know. Like I said, he’s been on crutches. When he gets out of that, can walk around a little bit, we’ll kind of take it slowly and do whatever’s best for him.
Q. In the last couple years against Georgia Tech, they’ve been able to ding you with a couple big plays. Is that something you especially have to be mindful of?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Absolutely. I mean, last year they stress you so hard in the run game. They had some big pass plays that hurt us. I think overall the last two years we haven’t done a good enough job of capitalizing on some opportunities that we’ve had in all three phases of the game.
They put the ball on the ground a couple times in special teams last year that we did not get on the ball. They retained possession. They have hit us on a couple big plays, and haven’t been very efficient offensively as we need to be.
Everybody talks about the triple option. Certainly there’s an element of clock control to it. But when you turn on the film, you realize they have quite a few big, explosive plays either in the running game or throwing the ball down the field.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.
Share
Contributors
