It feels a bit strange talking about a home opener that kicks off after the usual 12:00 to 2:00 kickoff. Most of us who work the sidelines are fully aware of the usual first few games at Lane Stadium. It’s still technically Summer, even though the weather guys consider the first week of September to be the start of meteorological Fall. That means more often than not the daytime and early evening temperatures in Blacksburg are in the low ‘hot’ range (85 or so), and the thermometers on Worsham Field
are tipping in the mid-to high 90’s.
Sweating Out the Weekend Weather Forecast
This year two things have conspired to present an oddity for the first home kickoff. The first thing is a gift of scheduling, ESPN and the ACCNetwork have decided that the Tech/Vanderbilt kick would be a primetime event at 7:30pm. This time of the late Summer that means the Sun will be down toward the western horizon and a long shadow will be cast from the West stands across the field. (Not fun for the photographers for the first quarter, I assure you.)
The second oddity is the expected temperature, and hopefully a clearing pattern. Blacksburg weather for September 6th is not really all that great. We are supposed to get thunderstorms pretty much the entire day on Saturday with the storms breaking right around 7:00pm. Our trusted Weather Underground (weatherunderground.com) Blacksburg, VA Hourly Weather Forecast | Weather Underground is currently making it look like it’s going to be a fight as to whether or not the rain gear and weather camera rig will be needed for this one. But just check out those temperatures regardless of the rain and storm conditions… The temperatures at kickoff time are going to be hovering in the high 60’s! That’s actually football weather. Let’s hope the rainstorm forecast changes and the weather clears before the players start to warm up. Remember lightning in the area means long delays, and adverse changes of the routine. The memories of the Purdue fiasco aren’t far in the past.
A Mid-Week Meeting
J.C. Starts It
J.C. Price started things off and the biggest topic of conversation was the performance of the line through the mid-week practice and how they were doing after the loss to South Carolina, but being arguably the best unit on the field for the Hokies.
Price isn’t big into coach talk, and he was typically upbeat but also reminding everyone that the line played well, and individual players were doing very well, but there were still many things to work on, and techniques to clean up. Coach Price named some of the players specifically but all for their positive contributions to the defensive effort.
When asked about the use of depth Price was very pleased with being able to substitute players in and out to change the look of the line for tactical advantage, and especially in keeping players fresh. He did note that the opening drive by South Carolina was a bit troublesome with their use of pace right off the bat, and their play selection. He did note that the defense did adjust and step up to correct the situation.
Overall, the topic stuck very much with the defensive line and its performance for the last game. The topic of Vanderbilt did come up, but everyone understood that more than general statements about Vanderbilt being about as “new” as the Hokies with the exception of their quarterback, Diego Pavia. Price noted that Pavia is really good and was going to be a challenge. That admission was of reality, not how the team tactically planned to handle Vandy’s flashy quarterback.
A Newbie for the Press to Talk To
Just to remind everyone, Takye Heath is a redshirt Sophomore wide receiver from Highland Springs High School in the Richmond suburbs. Heath played in three games his Freshman season in 2023, and played in 7 games last season, but had a very unfortunate and painful broken wrist that ended his season appearances.
Heath talked a bit about coming back from injury and working through issues with rehab and recovery with Coach Fontel Mines who he felt really close to since they both were from the Richmond area and spoke the same “language”. He talked about the wrist break situation, which was interesting because that sort of disappointing traumatic experience can put a player off. Later, Coach Pry would give him high praise for working through that sort of psychological issue and performing at the level that he did on Sunday.
It was brave for a relatively quiet receiver to step in front of the press, even if friendly and happy to make things in the interview easy and light. He talked about his opportunities and even mentioned his disappointment with his dropped pass and didn’t offer any excuses.
Given some of his personal and physical setbacks over the past two seasons, Heath presented a refreshing image of resilience and willingness to get to work and make himself better. It was also nice to hear that he is well tied into the coaching staff for support, and they are setting him up for success.
Pry – A “No Coach Talk” Session
Look, all coaches learn to run around questions, sort of answer while actually not saying much of anything. Brent Pry is certainly capable of doing that, but only rarely, and only on those occasions when he’s getting asked questions regarding things that either cannot or should not be discussed (without being blunt about just saying that’s not a topic that’ll he’ll address). Coach Pry was relaxed. We are all pretty familiar faces, so it was a friendly session. Pry started with a quick summary of his feelings about how well Takye Heath had progressed, and his well-handled first appearance in front of the media. He also brought up the critical issues of the improvement in his performance, and his (and the rest of the playing receiver room) issues about addressing the events of the last game.
We asked Coach Pry about how he felt about the fact that both Donovan and Aden Greene were going up for and pulling down contested balls. He stressed how critical that was, and how important it was going to be to keep up and spread the tendency. He noted that the big-name receivers make their status by going up for contested throws and pulling them in.
He touched very lightly on how much North Carolina transfer Linebacker Michael Short was fitting in and learning the system, but overall, the topic of the performance of the linebacker corps in the South Carolina game was not addressed by the reporters. We were going to ask how he felt about the observed improvement from last season but ran out of time.
Putting “Something” to Rest
There is always the tendency in the media to make something of nothing, or what ends up being nothing at all. Face it, we thrive on controversy, and when something is “heard about” we often want to see the wrong side of the event. In this case, there was a report that there was a “player only” team meeting this past week. Many times, in an organization’s operation a player only meeting means something negative is going on in the locker room that the players don’t want the coaches to know about.
Well, not for this team, at least not yet. Both coaches, J.C. Price and Brent Pry, addressed the issue in the presser. We found out from both of them that the team has been having regular player only meetings to sort out issues between themselves, and that the discussions are not often about negative things, but positives. So, there was nothing internally negative or controversial about the meeting from the perspective of the two lead coaches in the program.
This team looks like a group of players that have bonded up and are holding each other accountable. They are also working to assist one another in improving and getting back to a winning program condition. That’s actually very encouraging.
Not Much on Vanderbilt
As was to be expected, Vanderbilt and how the coaching staff planned on handling them is really not a topic of conversation for a collegial interview environment, because not one good coach is going to do more than “coach talk” that one. Coach Pry did mention that Pavia was going to be a challenge (called him “..one of the best quarterbacks in the country..”), and that Vandy was sporting a very new squad with the exception of their QB, so there was that. Nobody pushed it and we didn’t expect anything more on that topic, for now.
On to the previews. Bryan’s up for his part, and we’ll have the News, Predictions, and Poll out for tomorrow afternoon.
