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Virginia vs. Virginia Tech Post-Game Quotes
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Nov. 25, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Virginia Tech vs. Virginia
Post-game Quotes
Virginia Head Coach Al Groh
It was a very hard fought, physical game. We just did a couple of things that let the game get away from us. Things that we had targeted very specifically – that is, don’t turn the ball over; don’t let them have any long pass plays; and don’t let them kick a field goal.
That’s really the game they played against Wake Forest last week – two long pass plays, a turnover and two field goals. We were out to eliminate that and we weren’t able to eliminate it well enough. We had the long pass play, we had the turnover that led to a touchdown and we had the field goal. Very disappointed in the result but by the same token we got another glimpse in certain areas as to the progress that that we’ve made, principally through the resilience of the players and the players sticking together through a challenging start when we knew we had to put the team back together again. Over the last five weeks, we’ve gotten a real good picture of the progress of that and what this team can become in the future. Particularly with the large number, almost 100 percent, of critical players coming back next year, plus the addition of an entire redshirted class and what looks like a very strong class coming in. We don’t tolerate losing under any circumstances. We’re very disappointed in the result but we also saw another page turn. Being able to play really well starts with good defense and these players showed during the course of the year that they are ready to step up and play defense with anybody. That will only improve with the addition of some guys coming in to give them a little relief.
They are a very good defense. They didn’t get to be number one against scoring in the country over 11 weeks by not being very, very good. There’s a lot of talented players who play very hard and we couldn’t get much going there. I am certainly respectful of what they did and can see the value in it but frankly, I’m pretty proud of my defensive team and if I’m going to talk about defense, I’d like to talk about the Virginia players.
About Fitzgerald interception:Regardless of what came of that, it created field position at that particular moment and as the game certainly showed, as most of these games are – field position is paramount. If you’ve got it, you can operate in a certain way, if you don’t, you’re running uphill. That gave us the opportunity to establish that and that helped us through a long period of time.
You’ve got to keep the points down and we really did that if not for one miscue at the end of the first half we’d have been in it 0-0, which would have been a great position to be in.
Big play: Its 7-0 coming out at the half and we have the corner pressure on and we hit the QB in the pocket. The type of play where a blindside corner blitz often results in a turnover and now you’ve got the ball in good field position and from that Sean made a real good play, he shook out of it, ran a considerable distance which then turned into a field goal. That made it a two-score game and if had just been able to execute that we would have had good field position. He came in from the short side, the strength of the formation was to the defensive right, which technically makes that the backside or the blind side.
In terms of offensive plays, the thing that probably hurt us the most was the quarterback out of the pocket. We need to do a better job of keeping the QB in the pocket and turn them into sacks.
We didn’t’ enter any rhythm. It was really first down plays that we had a lot of second and long plays that are difficult to operate. That’s when they turn them loose, when it’s a one-dimensional game, when it’s all pass, that’s when the damage occurs. That one turnover was too much damage (we had the second one late). You need to avoid damage.
Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer
Opening Statement…”Today’s game is kind of like our whole season. I give our coaches a lot of credit and our players a lot of credit. We just kind of hang in there and find a way to win. I think there’s something special about that, when you stand on that sideline and just see guys battle and fight like heck and get a turnover right before the half and stick it in (the end zone). I thought we really blocked well to get that ball in the end zone. And then to have the offense come back and get that long play out of Eddie Royal, who I didn’t know if he would be back for the second half or not. Then you talk about George Bell, a few weeks back you wouldn’t have placed him here in the most important game in the state of Virginia. He was running hard and doing a great job for us today. I think we beat a good football team and I think we are a good football team.
“The fact we’re one of three teams to have won 10 games in the last three years, the others being Southern California and Texas. That puts us in pretty good company. We’ve been to one BCS bowl game in that time and I feel like we’re going to go to a great bowl game this time. I’m really proud of these players, I’m really proud of our coaching staff. I think we accomplished a lot this year. We were young. We were young on offense, if you look at our offensive line, our tight ends and our quarterback. They started and they fought through it and I think they continued to get better and do what we asked. I’m proud of this crowd.”
On Bud Foster (Virginia Tech defensive coordinator) and the defensive coaching staff…”(Bud)’s been doing it a long time. He’s very knowledgeable and has a great way of inspiring the kids. He’s tough, but they know he loves them. And that’s the way our defense plays. They play tough, they get after it and get to the football. I’m fortunate to have (Bud) and the defensive coaches – that’s a great defensive staff. Cav (linebackers coach Jim Cavanaugh) and Charley Wiles (defensive line coach) and Torrian Gray (defensive backfield coach) came back and did a good job for us in the secondary. That’s a good staff.”
On the team and the seniors…”I want to give my coaching staff and these players a lot of credit. They did find a way to win. I think those coaches coached them into finding a way to win, so I’m proud of that part. I’ll say this: when this next recruiting class comes in I think we’ve got a chance to win a few more. I’m looking forward to getting that group in there and several of them were here today. And let me say a lot about these seniors. You’re talking about (Noland) Burchette, and (Danny) McGrath and the kickers we have. We have some great seniors in there that deserve a lot of credit for keeping this football team together and got us playing together. Those seniors deserve a lot of credit.”
On bowl game possibilities…”Whatever bowl it is, it’s a good bowl. And what these bowl people know is that our fans will be there. I think we know we’re going to go to a great bowl and we’re going to take a lot of people with us. So everything is good, as far as bowls.”
On the defense…”We can move now. All those guys can move. All three of those linebackers and those two inside guys are really fast for linebackers. That probably puts us a little over the edge as far as speed. We’ve got a lot of smart guys. They play efficient, they play smart and know what they’re doing. They’re athletic, they’re fast and they’re smart and that’s a good combination.”
On kicking a field goal on 4th and 1…”The way the game was going if you could get two (types) of scores, you were in control. I wanted to go for it, I really did, and leave them down there in the hole. But at the same time, when you have a kicker like Brandon Pace, get the points on the board and make it a two-score game.”
On Kenny Lewis, Jr., and George Bell…”They did okay. For both of them, experience is a wonderful thing. Kenny, we like to keep him up in the hole and usually there are a lot of people catching you, but with Kenny, he has enough speed he starts bouncing and all of a sudden he could be there. He’s going to get better. George ran hard and ran well. I thought he did a good job for us.”
On Sean Glennon…”He put some balls right on the money and made some big throws for us. He had a couple of shaky plays in the first half, but he’s a smart guy. He understands and knows what needs to get done. I thought he did a good job of getting it done in the second half.”