The 2023 Virginia Tech Football Schedule: TSL Podcast 282

[Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] to this edition of the techsideline podcast on today's episode we'll start with the newly released 2023 Virginia Tech football schedule and see how things shook out for the Hokies in the first year of the new ACC scheduling model and in the second half we'll get to some hoops re recap the win against Syracuse on Saturday and preview the matchup tonight it's a big one against Miami that's coming up on episode 282 of the tech sideline podcast which starts right now [Music] [Music] we welcome you in whether you are listening or watching on YouTube if you are on YouTube make sure to like And subscribe while you're there and also turn on the notification Bell so you don't miss any future podcasts Tech sideline is presented by First Bank and Trust Company they're giving away one free annual TSL pass subscription each week from January through mid-march to enter hit the link in the YouTube description or find one of their ads on techsideline.com website congratulations to this week's winner who is George jobson of Blacksburg Jim is winner four out of okay George I messed up my little script okay he's George's winner five out of ten so be sure to enter every week and remember who you choose to bank with can make all the difference in your overall experience First Bank and Trust Company is the bank that puts you first visit www.firstbank.com to learn more before we get into it and I can stop talking and messing up I'll introduce the crew first today uh Chris Coleman lead analyst and columnist to my right David Cunningham managing editor for Tech sideline across the way the only one not wearing a black quarter zip today will Stewart your founder and general manager is in the fourth chair today Nick Brown producing behind the scenes and I'm your host Katie Adams things are great right now we're on a two-game win streak in basketball women's basketball coming off of a sweep of UVA and we have yet to lose a football game so let's get into it and talk about what's to come this football season we're recording on Tuesday as opposed to the normal Monday afternoon podcast because the ACC Network released the schedules last night which first off I gotta get away from that format just posted on Twitter that is I saw this on Twitter that is the definition of something that could have been sent in an email absolutely I did not and we forgot to print out schedules for the schedule podcast well that's the job of the fourth chair I will get up and go print it out I was just going to look on the phone on my phone yeah I've also written about it so many times we've written about it so many times already I know I already know the schedule all right we're descending an ACC Network territory here let's get back on track absolutely you can kind of break this schedule down into thirds you have September October and November we knew the majority of the September schedule prior to last night because it's a lot of those non-conference match-ups but starting with the home opener against ODU on September 2nd a Revenge game hopefully since joining the ACC Virginia Tech is seven and seven in opening matchups out of conference five of those were losses to top five teams and then you also have ECU and ODU so gotta go 1-0 here that's for sure yes and this is a game I expect to win uh it was a three-point game in Norfolk last year since then Virginia Tech has stolen old Dominion's best player and then their top tight end declared for the NFL draft and now the game's in Blacksburg and I don't think they've done much in the portal as far as people going to Old Dominion uh and I think Virginia Tech has strengthened itself in the portal so this is a game I expect to win like I look up and down the schedule and I see two games where I think Tech's gonna win and I see two one game where I think they're definitely going to lose and everything else is kind of like kind of a toss-up yeah yeah yeah I think I mean old you know takanoti or two and two home teams won each game Tex lost both games in Norfolk odu's lost both games here so I think I mean it's a good opportunity I think for Virginia Tech too and Brent pry to kind of put the disappointment of last year's season opener behind them start off on the right foot kind of have that have that win I mean it'll be what two weeks students will be have been here for for two weeks um everybody will be excited oh my God everybody gets to celebrate a home win in Blacksburg which is something that tech only got to do once all the last one Boston College in Watford oh forgot about the waffer yeah um but yeah like getting an opportunity to celebrate a home win under Brent pry you know I think that it'd be a good start to the year Virginia Tech has outscored ODU 69 to 17 while at home so hopefully it bodes well for us in 2023 and we can get off to a quick start next up is back to back Big Ten matchups which I don't think has ever happened in Virginia Tech football history this feels a little weird you get Purdue at home September 9th which my dad will be coached but will have a new coach as well as a new quarterback and Hudson card who played for Tech Texas last year and he was the quarterback on the field when they lost by one point to Alabama at home so he might give us some issues it's interesting uh Ryan Walters is is the new head coach for Purdue and he comes from the Justin Fuente coaching tree he was the Memphis cornerback in 2014. then he uh cornerback's coach excuse me not cornerback then he followed Ryan Odom to Missouri where he became his defensive coordinator and then he eventually became and he buried him um I know I lost where I was at so you were talking about it he went to Missouri yeah okay he went to Missouri and then he went to Illinois he was a finalist for the broils award at Illinois this past season where his defense was just like top 10 and everything maybe he should have been the Bud Foster replacement based on everything we know about him now but any rate he got the Purdue job Big Ten West champions we basically traded Wofford for the Big Ten West champions yeah I don't necessarily think they're going to be as good this year because they've got a new head coach and you never know but uh I do know that there's significant upgrade over Wofford this is a Purdue team that at times looked really really good last year and then of course Jeff Braum leaves to go to Louisville who Tech also plays um unfortunately Tech doesn't play Cincinnati because then you get the other part of the tree which just got Satterfield yeah who went from Louisville to Cincinnati but this is a Purdue team that that was really good this year and outside of the Citrus Bowl where they got that's yeah to be fair I mean Drew Brees was the interim was the interim I mean I think Purdue like when everything was when the when the actual staff was there when Braum was there that was a good Purdue team I mean this is a a Purdue Squad that like has given teams like Ohio State fits that attacks only played Purdue once I was in 2015 tech one and West Lafayette a big day for Brennan Motley out of Christiansburg I know this is this is going to be a tough matchup and I mean again as we were just talking about it's the only time all season Tech has back-to-back home games like backpack weekends with home games so I think it's going to be a really good crowd I'd imagine hopefully attacks coming off Tech and Purdue are both 1-0 coming into this so it's like a kind of a big time matchup um [Music] big time we'll talk about later which is kind of the statement home game on this schedule but the back end of that Big Ten skit is the first away game of the year September 9th up at Rutgers the New Jersey Hokies will love this one I think the northern Virginia Hokies might love this one as well because it's closer to get to Rutgers than it is to Lane Stadium from Northern Virginia yeah is it really wow probably more yeah Pro uh Rutgers I mean Rutgers was like four and eight last year Greg schiano's been there a while a while now um Rutgers lost like its last five games I think to end the year um I think it's kind of I would say probably toss-up we're replacing West a home game against West Virginia with a road game with Rutgers uh West Virginia is better than Rutgers but they're still not that good no but it's a road game yeah right and here's the thing what I I looked when the schedule came out we already knew the non-conference schedule we knew what the first four games of the Season were going to be their dates and all that we didn't know the ACC slate so the ACC schedule comes out and I look and I'm like a first three games pit Florida State Wake Forest that's pretty tough and then I wrote about this is what I wrote about today I was basically like you know what we were three and eight last year and one in six in the ACC they're all tough yeah they're all tough um like to me playing at Florida State is no different than playing at Louisville like Florida State's going to be Pro probably a lot better than Louisville but from where Virginia Tech is coming from it's the same thing because it's probably a loss so like Tech is going to have to get significantly better for the schedule and like so I I didn't have much to say about this year's schedule simply because of Tech's record from last year it's like we play who we play we've got to get better yeah yeah on the Rutgers note I mean not Purdue but Purdue has a new head coach Rutgers doesn't um and Virginia Tech um has a really really good record against Rutgers like 12-2 I think all time everybody's got a good record I do think I mean I do think I don't know go again like you said it should be a decent crowd for for the New Jersey Hokies in the in the DC tech fans and alumni base um it's yeah it's definitely an interesting trade-off right you've got you go from having West Virginia at home on a Thursday night to you're playing at Rutgers it's like what more can you do and Rutgers comes to Blacksburg in 2024. okay so speaking of this ACC Big Ten matchup there's a lot of other ACC big ten games in the month of September I was noticing Virginia Tech obviously gets Purdue and Rutgers Louisville and Indiana Virginia and Maryland UNC and Minnesota Duke and Northwestern and Syracuse and Purdue I still would rather have Penn State that game that never happens the game that never happened or Wisconsin yeah when did that game get scheduled or Michigan one of those one of those three series that never happened Tech had a series with Michigan at one point they got canceled yeah yeah and was and the Wisconsin ones which I got postponed two or three times yeah I think that game originally you know Andy bitter went to Wisconsin I think that that series was originally signed when he was in college I think that's what he said or maybe that's just he just jokes about that but it's been signed for a long time keeps getting pushed back I don't know if it's actually still on the future schedules page but yeah it's definitely interesting a lot of ACC teams playing Big Ten teams and um I know Syracuse and Purdue played last year and that was a really good game came down to the wire Syracuse won I think that's a good I don't know I think like those ACC big ten games are good tests to kind of see where the AC Stacks up as a conference September 23rd you're back on the road at Marshall interesting game placement I will say their Stadium seats over 38 000 in comparison to last year going to ODU which sits 22 000 and going to Liberty at 25 000. so it is a little bit of a boost but going on the road to Marshall probably isn't what we would favor to do uh they especially they went nine and four last year and beat Notre Dame yep on the road that they they have to uh replace a 1500 yard rusher and call on labourne but still you know Marshall's been a solid program uh they had a good year last year they're very good defensively uh they will like nothing better than to claim another Power five scalp so that is going to be a very difficult game yeah for Virginia Tech and as we know they're well coached I mean we talked about him replacing Justin Fuentes a couple years ago yeah I think this is uh I don't think this is a game like it's not gonna be like a quote-unquote trap game or anything like Virginia Tech's not gonna Overlook Marshall especially Virginia Tech's not going to overlook anybody coming off correct but I just mean like Marshall's a team that a little different from Old Dominion right where like Marshall beat Notre Dame on the road Marshall has a lot more Talent than Old Dominion yeah Marshall has a lot more Talent than Liberty okay so it's not right to put Marshall in the same light as those teams this is the team that is much more talented yeah do we know how many years JC price coached at Marshall I would say it's his return he he coached at JMU for a long time and then went to Marshall I don't remember how many he was there a handful a year there's probably at least five yeah um CJ McCray was that Marshalls came from Marshall that's right yeah Grant Wells that's right that's right so there's a whole lot of Marshall at Virginia Tech right now not just in the players but like you said Mike Mike villagrana came from Marshall uh uh so a lot of Martial influence at Virginia Tech right now uh we've gone up there and stolen a lot of their employees to make ourselves better to attempt to make ourselves better in theory and in theory to make ourselves better so now that you of course they're going to want to beat us yeah their fans are tired of reading press releases that say such and such as leaving Marshall for Virginia Tech to be director recruiting whatever or such and such as leaving Marshall to be defensive line coach at Virginia Tech or you know whoever Grant Wells is leaving Marshall to be quarterback at Virginia Tech or CJ McCray took his red shirt year at Marshall decided you know he was too talented to play at that level so he's going to go to Virginia Tech now they're tired of reading that they're going to want to stomp a mud hole in us so we're gonna have to be ready for that you're getting me fired up for this Marshall game well it'll be interesting to see if Grant Wells is our quarterback going into that game or if he's not and to round out the September slate your ACC openers pit on September 30th he was one of only two original Coastal scenes that we play in 2023 this is our latest ACC opener since 2017 when we played Clemson also on September 30th yeah it's a lot of guy that 20 2017 that was when college game day came into town that was that was it seems like so long yeah that was my that was my freshman year of college so that was a fun one that was forever ago um yeah it's interesting I mean usually like past couple years Tech's always played an ACC game like first or second week of the year all right your BC or your year and now Tech's gonna have you know four non-conference games and then you finally get an AC play I don't know if I like it or dislike it I think it gives you an opportunity to it was always nice like playing like like when Tech played North Carolina in the season opener that was nice because you didn't know what to expect and nobody had any film on each other correct you go into a pit game and Pitt doesn't have Israel a band of Canada thank goodness uh because as you said what 21 of this total declared for the NFL draft and in his three-year career he played in two games against Virginia Tech 21.1 percent of his career yardage came against Virginia Tech yeah no but I think it I think this is an interesting matchup I mean Tech's pretty good against Pitt at home and you get pit at home on a Saturday the very end of September it'll be the third home game in September um someone on the pit roster who is probably not excited to make their return to Blacksburg is going to be filled your covet yeah he did not have a good game when he was suited up for the Eagles last year in Lane stadium and now he'll be Pitt's starting quarterback potentially but I know they took two portal quarterbacks including Christian waylo over Penn State as well right so that'll be a matchup yeah yeah so uh but Djokovic is back with his original offensive coordinator from when he was good you see you're seeing a lot of that now you're seeing quarterbacks hit the transfer portal and they're going wherever their offensive coordinator Armstrong did the same right Robert it's like okay I was good under this offensive coordinator I stunk under this offensive coordinator maybe I should transfer to wherever the the off to the offensive coordinator that was knows me and we know how to work together right and things like that I'm telling you there's no such thing as a good quarterback and a bad quarterback anymore it's all about the coordinating the coaching and the fit for the scheme and everything like that yeah I think that's a that's a pretty good opener though for for Tech I mean that's uh I think that's a game that tech fans care about and if you look back to like this season like in terms of you know in terms of people's expectations going into 2023 off of this past season that's a game you can get people fired up for and you say pit at home first ACC game people are going to be a little Juiced up and go okay well we've gotta we got a game we care about first people obviously care about UVA but you got the two two of the games people actually care about first and last in terms of ECC I feel like that's that's pretty good it's not like you're opening with uh a Syracuse and everybody's like oh I don't really care about especially at that game especially if like you can start like three in one or something yes I think that helps the last time Tech played pit at home it came after the Notre Dame game when everybody was deflated yeah and I remember going to the pit game and it's it's rare to like you well it was common last year but for the most part it's rare when you walk into Lane Stadium where you feel like you have no chance to win the football game that's what it was like walking into the stadium for the pit game two years ago yeah it just felt like Tech had was that like 28-7 yeah yeah yeah it was a defense hung on there but you knew we weren't Tech wasn't going to be able to score this year I don't think Pitt's gonna be as strong as my gut feeling yeah uh so if tech improves that's a winnable game at home for me and I do I do think that could be you know a big game uh and one that the fans can get excited for if tech gets off to a good start and they're like three and one but if tech is like if tech loses to Marshall the week before well you know even if they lose to Marshall but if they lose to like Marshall Rutgers and Purdue and Purdue then you're like well one in three and pits coming to town yeah so and then we go to Florida State trip after that uh so yeah but yeah but these are things like like I know Tech is going to be better this year yeah in my opinion how much better I don't know the schedule is also going to be tougher so they can be better and the record won't necessarily improve so they'll have to be significantly better you just mentioned it moving into October jumps off to a hot start with October 7th down in Tallahassee Florida State coming off of a really good season got to be the toughest matchup on the schedule this is the only game I'm not looking forward to well besides like at Boston College which I never especially in November Will's nodding is yeah the will Stewart classic Virginia Tech and Boston College he used to write in his preview every year I'll never pick Boston College Western College to beat Virginia Tech oh have you done it since then I don't know um I I tend to what's it called bearing memories yeah yeah um that Florida State game I mean you know it's kind of crazies I feel like Florida State Clemson Clemson wasn't necessarily itself you know Clemson lost both coordinators Clemson wasn't necessarily itself last year still had an okay season um but Florida state was kind of like the surprise team in the ACC like Mike Norvell has been there for a couple years now and everybody's kind of like okay Florida State's this team Florida State's not getting back to National prominence anytime soon Florida State comes out of there and wins 10 games and it's like I oh my goodness with wins over Oklahoma and the bowl and LSU in the regular season and Florida right right I think by the end of the season they were the best team in the years if there were no divisions last year and it had been Florida State versus Clemson in the ACC title game I think Florida state would have won yeah so this is a road game against a team who as far as I'm concerned is the best team in the league it might not might not be as fun as that 2018 trip to Tallahassee I'm so glad I was there for that game and got it I was not because I don't know if we're gonna I didn't get to it will you were there right 2018 at Tallahassee yeah so what I remember about that game is um several things first of all was my first trip down there so it was great to be down there and I traveled with my buddy Richie Davis the the TSO van was brand new to us so we took it down to Tallahassee and Richie called into SiriusXM Mark Packer's show and actually got on the air and predicted the tech was going to win and then so Tech wins and some of the conversation the next day because the Hokies won like 24-3 is that right yep you know a text defense Caleb Farley had like two interceptions Texas defense dominated in that game and then the next day there were actually a couple of people nationally suggesting that Bud Foster should be in the College Football Hall of Fame that he had done enough she should be and the coup de gras Richie and I were driving up you know whatever Highway you drive up from Florida and uh Packer came on his show and said Gotta Give it to my buddy Richie from yesterday he predicted it you know so we just turned off the radio and that was the perfect end of the perfect weekend right yeah I will say Florida State not only were they good last year they bring in the number two ranked portal class they brought in a lot of power Five Guys so they're going to be even better and it's it's going to be a really tall test for the Hokies I think with the nixing of Divisions you're going to see a lot of people predict the Clemson Florida State ACC Championship Game rightfully so and they play I believe they play on September 30th they play early I believe it's so is Florida state Florida has Florida State have Clemson in Tech back to back Clemson then Tech yeah so you know we could get in them I guess after Clemson you know there could be some sort of Hangover yeah but I still don't think that's no like if you're going to take a fall vacation for any like go go October 7th October 7th October 8th book that weekend take yourselves treat yourselves home we're nice yeah I want to go to Florida whether we win or lose that's an awesome stadium if you can go to Florida right but now October 14th is your only Saturday home game in October kind of like this past year we only had the Miami game in October but you have to assume this is likely going to be homecoming weekend matchup loses a little bit of steam with the absence of Sam Hartman but I'm excited for this new rivalry if you will in our Wake Forest yeah I mean it's under two hours from blocks yeah it's an easy Drive yeah I created a great program so yeah I know Chris loves Dave Clawson oh there's wike is a great road trip well this one's in Blacksburg of course yeah yeah there's a great road trip if you're like an NRV Tech fan it's very close uh you know and all the North Carolina Hokies too you always worry about parking when you go on the road and stuff but there's this cool golf bar near the stadium there they let they let you park if they let you like if you go to the bar before the game and drink and eat everything right and then walk to the walk again I think I think the only like bummer in in quotes is like Wake Forest is one of the smaller schools in the ACC so the fan base isn't big so they might not travel as well but this is a like Wake Forest is a good program yeah Dave Clawson has him in a good spot yes they don't have Sam Hartman uh I forgot to kick the quarterback's name yeah he's a northern Virginia kid um I mean this could this could be a a good matchup of course Virginia Tech is a open week a bye week the following week um but like your first two home games of the year are pit and Wake Forest and of course that'll probably be homecoming like you said I think that it'll be a good crowd and it it's gonna be a good test the Wake program is peaking under Claussen like uh their last three years non-coveted years they're 27 and 13. they went four and five during the coveted year but you know the coveted year like I think coaching mattered less that year like your teams were like really smart coaches it's not going to matter as much because they don't know what players they're going to have on a week-to-week basis so it makes it really hard to game plan and I don't think the other coach right uh so I think that that was kind of a outlier um but they're peaking under under cloths and we'll see what they do with a new quarterback and everything like that but they're extremely well coached football team and Mitch gurfies does have some starting experience I believe he was in there when Sam Hartman was having that medical issue at the beginning he started the VMI game this past year and went off but you would expect you would expect yeah you would expect that uh October 21st the bye week so go to your weddings this weekend and only that weekend uh here's the fun one Thursday night October 26 against Syracuse how do you see another Thursday night game on the Slate as it should be in Lane Stadium weather should still be decently good so this will be a fun one for sure yeah Tech and Syracuse I mean this this is going to be the 20th meeting between Tech and Syracuse and then they've played every game on a Saturday so it's like first Thursday night meeting between Tech and series I think it'll be interesting um it'll it'll draw I feel like Thursday nights draw a little bit of a different crowd in terms of fans because you've got like the people that go to every single game but like your casual fans some of them will take off work and just say let's go up for a Thursday game because you know you get to take off a day or two of work um I I think I think it'll be a good test Syracuse obviously Robert and I former offensive coordinator went to NC State um Sean Tucker's gone um this is a Syracuse team that's going to look a little bit a little bit different they're still there but it has different quarterbacks because like he had a great year throwing the football this past year for the first time ever with an eyes is the offensive coordinator but he's gone still has the same quarterback did Jason back stay I think yeah yeah okay but will he revert in any way back to his old yeah Forum that couldn't pass the football without Robert Renee I don't know and talker's gone he was a great running back Dino babers has like spent his entire career on the hottie Chris and I were talking about this earlier when when Syracuse came to Blacksburg in 2021 when texture to won that game it was like 41-37 in Texas Tech was leading with like by two touchdowns or something like that with like in the fourth quarter and yeah Tito babers was a hot seat as Fuente was a little bit and babers is still here right Virginia Tech is four and six in their last 10 home games on Thursday obviously lost 33-10 to West Virginia this past year we need to win this one uh the orange have also won four of the last five against us so yeah not a great look if you had to ask me which game would be on Thursday I do wish the NC State game was a Thursday night instead of this one but yeah I would agree with that yeah now on to November you're primarily going to see Virginia Tech on the road three away games and one home game it starts out with a trip to Louisville on November 4th to take on the Cardinals and their new coach and Jeff Brown I was asking them before the podcast how you pronounce that so he was going to get the Hokies on his schedule whether he stayed at Purdue or whether he went to Louisville that's right yeah and this is the first time since Louisville joined the ACC in a non-coveted year that Virginia Tech is going to to Louisville um again I don't really know what to think about Louisville I think Louisville it could go one of two ways new coaching staff new quarterback um but Louisville was pretty good last year I mean obviously Cunningham's not going to be there anymore I think they're really well coached Jeff Braun did a great job yeah I would agree like if I was Cincinnati I would have hired him instead of Scatterfield that's my opinion um but Louisville was pretty good this past year eight and five and yeah you could argue that their coaching is upgraded yeah uh now uh so yeah they'll be a tough out on the road uh these days it's hard to like get a complete picture of teams right now because yeah the transport portal is done for now but there's another window after the spring so you don't know what these rosters completely look like yeah um but you know it's a road game and like against a team that is better than Tech Yeah Yeah from everything we know right now so yeah Tech went on the road to Louisville during the code year and one yeah um but you know Louisville was yeah it's interesting because I always thought Louisville under Satterfield was up or down you never knew what to expect um I feel like that was kind of the same thing with a lot of those Atlantic division teams maybe that's just the AC as a whole to be honest I mean you could say the same thing for like Miami Carolina it's like you don't know what whether the team's gonna come out and perform well I think you can say that for most teams outside the elite top talent yeah I think well because like Louisville Elite quarterback in Malik Cunningham and sometimes would perform really well sometimes wouldn't so um one or two Tech connections there's two hole running backs coach was previously at Louisville so I'm excited for that road trip and you can go on your bourbon tasting Trail yeah absolutely I'm gonna have to compare the Virginia Tech schedule and wherever I go to grad school to figure out all that and which games I'm going to but then the Hokies will ship Up To Boston November 11 November probably not the time that you want to be in Boston it's going to be a cold one but this is a very winnable game for the Hokies and what I think will be the last year under Jeff hafley watch well we'll have a row you better knock on Woods we'll have a road game against Boston College and then Tech Will qualify for a bowl and get the Fenway ball you have to go to Boston again in December so what I didn't yeah I think that's cool what I what I didn't realize is the first ever college football game like in Yankees like the first ever college football game in Yankee Stadium and so it's 100 year anniversary Pitt Syracuse played first game in Yankee Stadium um so yeah but yeah I think going to Boston man uh thank goodness uh basketball starts that week like that'll be the first week of college basketball season um Boston in November does not sound like an ideal trip and Virginia Tech I mean you guys are trying to try to forget it but like the last Virginia Tech trip up to Boston College for football forget it Braxton Burmeister was supposed to play Phil jerkovic is her and then jerkovic plays and Burmeister gets hurt and everything goes the wrong way the wrong direction uh just like you would expect in Boston yeah right no I mean and last time Virginia Tech men's basketball went to Conti forum lost let's not talk about it but what a very winnable game though for tech oh yeah Boston College is offensive line this past year was legit the worst offensive line I've ever seen I lost who did they lose to that was really bad uh Rutgers beat him but the Rutgers wasn't really bad it wasn't like Colgate but it was like someone like that another toothpaste someone yeah Will what do you think about Boston College the aim toothpaste um but I think it's a wonderful game yeah um which feels odd to say considering it's in Boston I certainly wouldn't guarantee it you're gonna pick Boston College to win you know I should do that little reverse Mojo people get really mad at me when I do stuff like that though well in our last home game of the season and the one I'm most excited for November 18th against NC State Brennan Armstrong did not Escape playing in front of the sold out crowd at Lane Stadium the one year he did play here was the coveted year for Virginia so this time around there's going to be a lot more people in the stands yeah and NC State's good I mean again I would say this is the second best team on Tech schedule behind Florida State right yeah um NC State didn't matter what quarterback NC State played this year NC State found a way to win and that kind of describes good teams right Dave doran's a good coach they've got a really good defense Virginia Tech should have had that game in Raleigh this year and and couldn't pull it out um I'm excited for NC State to make a return trip I think if if Duke didn't do what Duke did I think Dave Doran would have had my vote for a social security I think it was idiotic that he didn't get a single vote and Mack Brown got a vote for Coach of the Year Dave Doran won eight games with four different starting quarterbacks two of which were true freshmen do you know how hard that is I mean that guy's one of the best coaches in the league I don't even think his own fan base realizes it um no because he's so mellow about it yeah yeah that's true uh but yeah I think he's an excellent coach Brennan Armstrong when I say there's no such thing as a good quarterback or a bad quarterback anymore I mean that's not true of course but I do think there's a lot of guys most guys that could be good or bad depending on the situation that they're in all you have to do is Google Brennan Armstrong college sports reference and you will be brought to a page that shows you his stats year by year and the years where he was good Robert and I was his offensive coordinator the year where he stunk this past year Robert and I was not his offensive coordinator now he's back with Robert and I at NC State and that's a very well coached program so I would expect NC State to have a very good season and Brennan Armstrong to have a Redemption season and I would expect for the few UVA fans that are left you're going to want to see yeah no I I think I think I mean Devin Leary was there and Tech didn't get a chance to play Devin Leary because he got injured um and I can't even remember the the kid's name the true freshman yeah I mean came out of the woodwork and was awesome against Virginia Tech this year I feel bad for him because he should be their starting quarterback this year and it's gonna be Brian Armstrong well it could be him but it all it could also be the true freshman they brought in at the end of the year who won't beat you Ryan Finley yes yes there are a lot of options for NC it must be nice to have a billion awesome quarterbacks yeah what Virginia Tech in like 2019. we had that at one point I'll talk about it I will say the like Virginia Tech NC State that's like a good that's a good battle I think I love that two big state schools who have huge fan bases that actually like legit care NC State is the Virginia Tech of North Carolina yeah and they and they care I mean NC State will travel very very well to Blacksburg and of course last time they played was was during covet they're not as loud as as tech fans so no uh I think if if they were in the ACC East Carolina would be the Virginia Tech of of North Carolina academic wise it is you're talking about fans yes we're talking about game day atmosphere okay I'm excited because not a lot of people I mean NC State this is only the fifth time I think NC States come to Blacksburg since since joining since like tax been in the ACC um I think text three and one are forming against them the one loss was the first one like 2004 or five they took one five in a row against them after that yeah um but like the last time NC State came to Blacksburg was 2020 and nobody got to see it it's true so I think again NC State fans travel well this will be a good matchup of course it's the only home November game yep well now that we've discussed all of the home games which do you think is the statement Game of the Year Syracuse NC State or Purdue I guess you could take that question in various ways which is going to have the best crap you know uh it's it's interesting on paper I don't think I I would just in a vacuum statement in terms of what in a vacuum I would say NC State yeah but that's only if Virginia Tech has had a good season up to that point if tech rolls into the NC State game something like two and seven or two and eight or whatever it's not going to be much of a state in the game is it no right uh so I I'm inclined to say a statement game is something that would be earlier in the season I would probably say Purdue or wake or wakeful I think I think Wake Forest is going to be a really good game yeah yeah if depend if tech is like hitting the right trajectory I would say Purdue and Pitt yeah like the the fir the first big non-conference test and then the first ACC game okay yeah uh I I think both those teams will be you know really good tests of course and we'll we'll know a lot about ourselves after the Purdue game I believe yeah I think a lot of people are overlooking that Purdue game too it's not one of those teams that jumps out to you of course when you think about powerhouses in the Big Town yeah everybody everybody goes oh it's Purdue and then this goes okay well did you know they won the Big Ten West yes right they won the Big Ten West and Virginia Tech went three and eight all right this isn't historical Purdue versus historical Virginia Tech it's not going to be 51. game got played tomorrow Virginia Tech would be home underdogs I would it'd probably be like Purdue like minus eight probably like yeah I I think this is a this is a Purdue team that's going to be good and like you said we will know a lot after this Purdue game just of I think it'll be the first test against a power five team then you've got Rutgers who is now obviously probably won't be as good as Purdue and then a marshall team before Tech goes on the road this is a really good opportunity to kind of see what tech has and what tech doesn't have yep and of course you ended off in Charlottesville for the Commonwealth Cup on November 25th it'll be a game with a lot of emotions and of course Tony Elliott and Brent price first Head to Head after the game didn't happen this past year but excited to get that rivalry back up and rolling and Tech won the last time there yeah and I really feel like and this is I mentioned two games that I would 100 favor Tech to win right now and the other one is UVA Old Dominion and UVA um I think Virginia Tech has strengthened themselves in the transfer portal this off season and I just I look up and down at what uva's done they lost Billy Kemp to Nebraska they lost Brandon Armstrong to NC State Central they got Cameron Kelly so I would say that they're a net negative in the transfer portal um they're gonna be horrible this year I think unless I'm just totally missing something now I'm sure they're sitting here is probably saying the same thing about Virginia Tech because Virginia Tech wasn't any better than them last year but we don't have to start our season playing Tennessee and they do oh my God and then GMU the following week uh that's that's nasty I do it'll be it'll be good especially after not getting to play this year it'll be it'll be good even though it is in Charlottesville when we talked about this I think um back back in November December but like Virginia Tech hasn't Virginia Tech has not hosted Virginia in a full-lane stadium since 2018. like it's until 2024. yeah it's been a while but it'll be nice to to get the Rivalry back up yes and you know like I said I think there's still a whole lot the Virginia Tech offensive coaches have to prove to me personally and I think most of the fan base would agree with that but I feel like Virginia Tech there's a lot more positives with the new Virginia Tech coaching staff so far then you've been there with UVA they just look like they don't know what in the world they're doing but anyway yeah well that's the schedule and all of its Glory it's a weird one I find myself missing certain matchups is there any games on this schedule that I guess they're not on this schedule but is there any matchups that you find yourself wishing that you saw on the schedule or well maybe not every year I want to play West Virginia yeah um that's that that's you know North Carolina obviously is one but but the thing is like even with North Carolina and and I said this to you all before the podcast it's only a rivalry if both fan bases and both schools consider it a rivalry it's not a rivalry if one fan base thinks it is so like Virginia Tech and Miami is not a rivalry yeah because the Miami fans and administration and players don't believe that it is it would be like like like everybody thinks Duke is their rival right the basketball Duke only considers one team and maybe maybe NC State to to be rivals or the flip side of that is what if Duke considered Virginia Tech to be a rival in football right hooky fans would be like what what where did that come from we are not your Rivals we only have two real Rivals because UNC fans they don't consider attack arrival either Virginia and West Virginia Virginia is horrible so like that's not even any fun because they're so bad but we have new Rivals now though they're Wake Forest and Pitt and it's unfortunate to say that yeah but I guess but the rivals are supposed to have fans like wake doesn't have very many fans NC State maybe maybe that can turn into it but they'll be like no it's north but there's no dislike there's no dislike there there's no they can't be dislike um um but yeah so to me it's just like that that one void there there's a void missing in Virginia Tech football and that is a heated rival I mean a heated rivalry I don't mean UVA I don't mean two three and eight teams going head to head to end the season I mean Virginia Virginia Tech and West Virginia is going to be heated enough where it doesn't matter what the records are right uh like I went into that game this past year I left the Wofford game last year I didn't think attack was very good at all but I was still looking forward to the West Virginia game I didn't think they were very good I didn't think we were very good but by God is Tech versus West Virginia I knew their fans were going to be in the tailgating Lots with me and it was just going to be great and while college football was supposed to be all about you don't get that feeling when you play UVA at all because there there's no there's no heat with their fan base it's not gonna be that feeling welcoming Syracuse in on a Thursday night either because no their fans aren't gonna drop rajio is going to love it but I need a West Virginia man yeah yeah and I do I do think like God when you look at the schedule I think that's that's kind of what's missing you're missing a rivalry game totally you're you're because you don't have a West Virginia on the schedule there's no Miami even there's no North Carolina there's no game that historically tech fans would be like oh yeah I cannot wait for that we're like a Notre Dame like we've had good games to Notre Dame as of late we don't play them either yeah is there a road trip you're looking forward to Katie I think I will go to Florida state with my family depending on you know if we're oh and seven at that point we're still gonna go we wouldn't be excited even if we were okay have you ever been to Florida State yeah I went in 2018. yeah I have not been I'm I'm excited to go experience it I think Louisville Louisville would be cool too um I've always wanted to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum yeah okay I'll go to Louisville in November I'd rather go in March will you have something it is fourth chair time is it fourth chair time totally go ahead okay so I was doing some random research and things like that so uh you guys mentioned the the uh how Rutgers is close to Northern Virginia I Googled the distance from Washington DC if you want that to represent Northern Virginia to Piscataway it's 201 miles so yes it's a shorter trip distance wise up there uh Virginia Tech's record against Rutgers is 12-3 and that includes uh let me pull it up here 10 straight victories by Virginia Tech Rutgers won the first three times they played Rutgers won in 1920 1953 and of course the 50 to 49 game in 1992 and that must have built up some like massive Karma because Tex won the 10 games since then so look for if Rutgers wins that game look for that what I call a dishonest sort of reporting where they'll say it's Rutgers first win over Virginia Tech in 30 years yeah and technically it is you know it's just 10 games though um so what else do we got here I got a chuckle out of the reference to Wisconsin and how many times they have and haven't been on the schedule so I looked at our future schedules page where we archive everything for There are 16 mentions of Wisconsin on our future schedules page two of those are the fact that Tech is scheduled to play them in 2031 and 2032. the other 14 mentions are in the history of future schedules Virginia Tech has been scheduled to play a home and home with us with Wisconsin the first reference was August 2003 for 2006-2007 then it was moved to 2016-2017 there was a brief mention of it being 2019 and 2020 and now it's scheduled for 2031 and 2032. originally scheduled after it was originally talked about from August 2003 to uh 2031. so it was originally going to be uh Frank Beamer versus Barry Alvarez and now it's going to be whoever versus whoever and yeah hopefully versus Luke fickle yeah so so there were a couple of references that that first series that was supposed to be played uh Wisconsin asked out of that Jim Weaver said that on on hokey hotline which is currently Tech talk live Jim Weaver said that Wisconsin asked out of that original one then there was later mentioned that ESPN was trying to set up Virginia Tech versus Wisconsin and it just never came through so uh if if we ever have Andy bitter on the podcast again we will discuss that yeah you guys mentioned if you're going to have a if you're going to go to a wedding do it Florida State weekend no I said we can order the bye weekend yes and so for me I have a nephew who's getting married the pit weekend so I have to be down in North Carolina well the last time you missed a home game for a wedding was one of the greatest home games in Virginia Tech History yeah that was that the North Carolina North Carolina six overtime game yep yeah don't do it y'all don't plan a wedding for the fall so looking at Wake Forest uh wakes one two out of the last three against Virginia Tech yeah um the one they didn't win was buds last yeah yeah and Virginia Tech is uh eight and 11 all time against Syracuse uh and since they started well they started playing regularly like 1985. since 1985 all the way through 2021 um Syracuse at 1.13 in a row but other than that neither team has won three in a row it's it's three wins then they went back and forth for literally six years Syracuse won three in a row uh they won them in 87 88 and 92. so not exactly in a row um so thought that would be some interesting stuff to throw in there and let me see what other notes I have here I believe that that is it yes we play so many Big East teams I feel like that this year instead of like previewing the games our podcast should be our favorite memories of old Big East Virginia Tech versus Syracuse the hookies want to you know go in two and ten or three yeah we'll take that sort of thing um so the comments when when Geo put the schedule out on the tech sideline Twitter feed he did that social media thing of asking for comments and there were a number of comments about missing Miami including a Miami fan who said wait we're not playing you guys this year so somebody was clearly not dialed in and there were one or two comments about are we back in the Big East again so those are some of the comments off Twitter will this get this year's schedule may not be all that flashy but 2024 and 2025 are so I'm very excited about the future I'm gonna have to come back and host the podcast previewing those schedules as well but before we get off the topic of football I want to quickly get your thoughts on fontail mine's pay raise it was quite the Boost after an excellent year of recruiting and establishing a player like Caleb Smith deservedly so with that pay raise yeah I think that and recruiting I mean we know how big he was in terms of Virginia Tech recruiting this year um but yeah I think I think he saw Player Development like like Caleb Smith was a different player albeit the hokey's offense wasn't very good like guys was the one consistent performer for the offense yeah I think I'm very curious to see how the guys who were true freshmen this year a guy like Tucker Holloway how does Tucker Holloway how is he different this this upcoming season what what do we see out of him this year um does Christian Moss develop there are a lot of guys there yeah guys like Christian Moss DeJuan Lofton um Dallin Wright was obviously her but there are guys in that middle Gap guys that came in in Fuentes last year that are now in their third year in the program um what what what's the trajectory um but I do think he did a lot of good stuff with a lot of different guys particularly Caleb Smith and Caleb Smith was the one consistent as far as the recruiting goes he was insanely good on the recruiting Trail this year he got two wide receivers from Tennessee but he also helped out with every single in-state kid from Richmond and that was like eight or nine kids so he he was he was key to Virginia Tech's recruiting success in this 2023 class I think when you have the vision of Virginia Tech football that Brent pry has fontail mines was his most important hire and when he when he not just lived up to but exceeded every single recruiting expectation his first year you want to lock that guy up um what I've heard is that he was Penn State's first choice for their wide receivers coach once they saw what he did and and uh I think Penn State thinks recruiting first yes and they love to Target the state of Virginia exactly and I think they wanted him bad uh they ended up hiring Hagans and I'll talk about him in a second from UVA from UVA uh so yeah I think it's great that they lock mines up if they had lost Minds I don't know who they would have hired to replace him in Richmond you would have needed a wide receiver coach that knows how to recruit Richmond so you either find a wide receivers coach who's really good recruiting Richmond or you have to reshuffle your staff to come completely because you need to find somebody who can recruit Richmond because if you're an in-state priority for recruiting if that's your number one focus is your program that's what's most important so if you would have had to reshuffle his staff in my opinion which would not maybe not have been ideal now Katie I missed it did you give the numbers and he went from 275k to 500 425k 55 raise yeah so Chris and David your raises this year won't be that either from a sheer numbers standpoint or percentage standpoint did I read sorry to pop this in the midst of a live podcast but did I read that that makes him the ninth highest paid wide receivers coach in the country I wouldn't shock this that's a lot I did not that's not something I included in my story is doing something with their money for their staff now that I never thought they would do or could do as far as how much money they're paying their code this is important this is a big moment it's a huge huge they've dedicated a lot of resources so I'm gonna go on a long model OKAY they've dedicated a lot of resources so it has to work here's the thing these resources that that are coming into the football program now they're not naturally program generated resources it's the football enhancement fund where fans are donating 12 and an extra 12 and a half million or when I say fans I mean big donors so 12 and a half million from the big donors matched twelve and a half million by the university so this is order I mean it's real money but it's not generated by the athletic department so the university and the big donors are throwing big money at this staff to get it done if this staff doesn't get it done then what are those big money people gonna do they're going to be like I'm not giving you all my money again if you can't produce better results than that so it's very important that this work with this this new model for Virginia Tech this new let's have one of the highest paid staffs in the country like it has to work because it's not the program that's generating the dollars that's paying the coaches it's the big donors that are just giving giving the money um and as far as mines himself goes excellent recruiter I think he's a good wide receivers coach too I think he's similar to Hagin so like I saw some people were being critical of Penn State hiring Hagans because uh they don't consider him a great recruiter and uva's wide receiver stunk this past year uva's wide receivers did stink this past year but you know what they were awesome before that under Hagens the same receivers went from awesome to bad overnight when UVA had an offensive coordinator change and a head coach change right uh I think for the struggles of Virginia Tech's wide receivers this past year were more about inexperience and offensive coordinating than they were wider pure wide receivers coaching yeah so I think uh I think mines is a very very good coach and I think he's going to prove to be worth every penny that Virginia Tech is paying him I wouldn't excuse me one more thing I want to add to you were talking about the football enhancement fund um Virginia Tech has more resources available for coaching and support staff and what happened was Brent pry hired in experienced offensive defensive coordinators and that made a lot of people go where'd all that extra money go right so it's important that this is a this is an instance where you have a guy who's somewhat proven himself as a coach definitely proven himself on the recruiting Trail and other programs came sniffing around and they warded them off right I think that's important and you and you snatch them up and you keep them yeah I think a lot of a lot of the struggles this year go for Virginia Tech wide receivers go back to uh we think I I think back to the quote Jayden blue told you before the season about how Tyler Bowen's offense was going to scheme him open narrator he didn't that didn't happen why is that the wide receiver's fault I think that more that falls more on on that the offensive line wasn't very good Grant Wells had his own issues it wasn't just the wide receivers and I think fonto Minds is proven that he can develop wide receiver talent but more importantly he's he's proved himself how valuable he is on the recruiting Trail and it's not just him getting wide receivers but they were eight to ten guys from the Richmond area whether it was Braylon Johnson multiple defensive backs guys that he was involved with that came because they had relations with him let's not forget to mention Ali Jennings the third sure and and other wide receiver guys from the transfer portal they brought in Jalen lane from Middle Tennessee who's going to play in the slot Daquan Felton from Norfolk State he brought in three transfer Porter wide receivers too I'm excited for the spring that's probably the most intriguing position I'm excited for this spring is wide receiver there are 14 or 15 scholarship wide receivers fontel mines I think has 11 or 12 to work with this spring I think all but two or three are enrolling early that's plenty of guys to work with this spring to figure out who fits and who does more than than you would normally have on the roster for spring at one position yeah so yeah that's a lot of reps to sift through there won't be that many on scholarship after the spring yeah that would be my prediction well that's going to lead us into our break here on episode 282 of the tech sideline podcast did a deep dive on the 2023 football schedule and what's in store for Brent pry in year two touchdown vontel mine's new contract and when we get back we'll finally talk some hoops make sure you stay with us [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] welcome back into episode 282 of the techsideline podcast presented by First Bank and Trust Company the tech sideline podcast is also presented by Triumph nil nil for good triumphantale is a unique and experienced Sports marketing agency specializing in building custom name image and likeness Partnerships for student athletes with members of the business community and fans their motto recruit retain reward visit Triumph nil.com to learn more we're going to flip the script and talk some hoops this time around just when we needed this team to start stacking some wins they did just that victory over Duke followed by a big win against Syracuse over the weekend Virginia Tech really able to like I said flip the script after that game up in the dome what was working for the Hokies on Saturday I I would I would say three pointers fell and I also think having Hunter Couture back is huge yeah um Tech 26 assists season High most an ACC game winner Mike young as Mike said after the game playing his own kind of makes things a little lopsided because it's easier to pass because they're not I mean it's a Zone versus man-to-man that's self-explanatory they're not up in your face challenge yeah um but I mean Tech was 11 of 20 from three in the first half start made nine of its last ten um Hunter Couture had a great game and of course as we'll talk about in a minute Grandpa zilli continues to improve MJ Collins had a good game John Camden played well in the absence of Darius Maddox so I think it was just the thing of tech was home in the right environment and put a good game together against Duke last week um played good defense and really exploited the Zone's weaknesses in the first game at Syracuse Tech turned the ball over way too many times and did not move the ball quite as well Sean Padula and Rodney rice were like three or four of 21. just did not shoot well um jacked up way too many shots Tech was deficient Justin mutts and Grant bazilly whoever was in that that role right at the elbow right at the free throw line they made the right plays and I think it was success self-explanatory as simple as that I agree with everything he said and I will add that another big reason they won this time is that they didn't uh allow 82 points like they did in the dome they didn't play defense in the dome yeah they couldn't keep the ball out of the paint at all whether it was the drive or whether it was Syracuse throwing it into the paint but they couldn't stop it uh so he was ended up with 70 but they scored a few of those late and they they weren't really on Pace for that for for most of the game so I thought it was a good defensive performance by Tech certainly much improved from their performance in the dome earlier this year they hounded Joe Gerard Joe Gerard had 24 in the dome and he only had seven I believe yeah I mean and and Mike young explained it after the game as it's so tough to play defense on him because he's a guy who can basically create a shot from nowhere and Hunter Couture it helps to have him back Couture basically was glued to him the entire game held him in seven points Jesse Edwards Syracuse big man got in foul trouble early that played a role and then I mean when Grandpa zilli is 24 points 25 points it really helps get everything going he scored 50 points this year against Syracuse didn't he between two games more often like you said Grandpa zillia was fantastic finishing with 25 points in this one that that performance combined with his performance against Duke last week was good enough to get him ACC player of the week honors deservedly so he's playing his best basketball right now which is exactly what we need yeah in the last five games she scored 100 points so 20 per game seven rebounds per game against Duke and cues he had 25 points per game and like eight rebounds something like that he's playing really really good basketball uh I think Mike young mentioned on Monday an AC teleconference and I wrote about it um a little bit yesterday when and when Grandpa was named AC player of the week deservedly so he's playing really good basketball and like storm Murphy after came from Wofford it took Grandpa Zulily a little bit of time to get going Mike Young's hopeful now that he's finally found his spot and got gotten comfortable but you got to remember he came from the Horizon league in Wright State and it takes a little bit of time to adjust but I said this on Monday last Monday before Virginia Tech played Duke if you were an opposing head coach and you were you were drawing up a scouting report for Virginia Tech there was not one player on the team that was really like oh my God this guy really caused a lot of problems for us we have to guard him and against Duke Grant bazilly was a match-up nightmare for Duke Kyle filipowski couldn't guard him and philipowski is really really good John Shire tried multiple different guys on him didn't work against Syracuse albeit its Zone but Graham brazily had a really good game if he continues to be an X Factor in the way that other teams have to defend him because he's so good and he creates such difficult match-ups like tonight against Miami Virginia Tech's gonna have a lot of success because it draws more attention therefore the ball can go other places and and you get a wide open Hunter Couture um I I think he is a a key one of a couple keys to Virginia Tech success down the stretch he's playing really really good basketball he's adjusted to the physicality of the league and that takes some some guys do that faster than others I will say uh but he seems like he's made the adjustment now you finally got a third guard playing with some consistency in MJ Collins that's for the first time that's happened this season and now you got Hunter Couture back so right now at this moment in time this is the best Virginia Tech this is the best version of Virginia Tech we've had all year yeah right now so the Hokies have 10 games left plus the ACC tournament they're a good team right now uh let's just see how it plays out yeah one player we didn't see a lot in this one was Sean Padula got himself into some foul trouble early on and only played 17 minutes no Darius Maddox all game because of a family emergency did you like what you saw from MJ Collins and John Camden huge um you know Collins they haven't been guarding him they haven't been closing them out on the three-point line and he wasn't making him pay early in the season and now he's starting to make those open jumpers when he made his third one against Syracuse the one from real deep on the left wing in front of the Syracuse bench the Syracuse Defender did not close him out and after uh Collins made the shot the uh the Syracuse Defender looked at bayheim as if to say are you sure you don't want me to start closing them out now um because I was a Scouting Report it's like 25 three-point shooter yeah let him take those shots and prevent the interior uh pass instead now he's starting to make them so The Scouting Report is going to change so his next step as a player is to adjust to the adjustments that that people are making to him first 30 attempts 5 of 30. since then he is now nine of 13. okay so yeah so MJ Collins is nine of 13 nine of his last 13 from three points started five of them started room was five of thirty before that I was impressed with the the calmness from him and and John Camden John Camden a guy who's barely seen Big Time minutes this year only like a little bit when Couture was out gets thrown to the fire plays like 20 something minutes comments played I think I said they combined for 61 minutes 19 points cam Camden missed went started oh for three and then and then finally got one down their confidence I think has been huge earlier in the year both of those guys looked like they were afraid to shoot the ball like when they shot they were like oh this is not going in and now they shoot and they're like okay I'm gonna shoot it because I know I can they both played good defense um chompadul sat for the final nine and a half minutes in the first half and tax points per game was like 1.87 like the Hokies were Hokies had like 28 points on 15 possessions and I think yes it's the zone so it's a little bit skewed but the way that John Camden and MJ Khan stepped in and there was no drop off and when Syracuse pressed the entire second half maybe one time where where they looked a little rattled they broke the Press they settled down they got some big rebounds John Camden had that one where he stole the ball right off the inbound and laid it right back up um they're playing good basketball and those are the complimentary pieces you need to be a successful team yes uh I agree and they're gonna have to keep doing it if Maddox is still going to be out because with Maddox out you've only got three guards which means Camden has to start playing every game at the three just so you can have a backcourt rotation at all yeah so uh it's going to be important that you continue to play at that level Syracuse was a unique matchup it cam best matchup for Camden for sure we'll see what he does against a more traditional lineup if you remember last year when Tech beat Syracuse and Castle Tech played the last 10 minutes of that game without a point guard on the court they took out storm Murphy they took out Sean Padula but it was a close game and Tech wasn't playing much defense and you don't need a point guard against Syracuse they put in a bigger Defender and they ended up winning the game yeah so that's a huge Syracuse is a unique matchup because of their style um we'll see how it goes against more traditional matchups but but again I I agree what I just said is true I think right now this is the best Virginia Tech has been this season because they've got most people healthy not everybody but they got Couture back basilis plant figured out the physicality of ACC level and now Collins is making open jumpers so they've got a third guard finally Couture's back and now they're big man's more consistent so this is the best tech has been all season even they're a better team right now than they were when they were 11 and 1. because all those other things have happened since then so uh let's just let it play out hookies win that one 85-70 and now you flip the page to tonight's game down in Coral Gables taking on the 23rd ranked Miami Hurricanes you're feeling really good with the wins over Duke and Syracuse you're feeling even better if you can go on the road and do it tonight yeah this is a this is a quadrant one game one of three the Hokies have left Virginia at home on Saturday because this is a big week Quadrant One game on the road tonight against Miami Quadrant One game at home on Saturday in Syracuse the only one after that is Duke and Cameron Indoor and you've only ever won there once in school history so don't count on it so you're telling me there's a change this is a Miami team that has been up and down and has faltered in close games three and four in its last seven though it's seven and four in the ACC this is a really good offensive team like Virginia Tech needs to play some of its best defense all year um very similar to Virginia where obviously you everybody knows the name Isaiah Wong Jordan Miller was there last year but everybody else there's only two starters the Kane's return everybody else's new faces but 800 000 to bring in a transformation Nigel pack yeah that helps he's playing good basketball um there are a couple different guys that that Miami Miami basically it's kind of like UVA where there's no necessarily one score that takes over a bunch of guys that can score three or four or five different options this is a really good Miami team offensively defensively a little susceptible but Tuck's gonna have to to be on tonight um I think it's a really good opportunity to get a win it's not make or break um you know this is one of those games where you lose doesn't really hurt you but you like to have it but you could really help yourself if you win it you it's a big shot in the arm um I I don't know Mike young was hopeful that Darius Maddox would be back family emergency um don't know if I'd expect him to be back uh Mike wasn't even sure if he'd be able to travel like how he'd get down there if he was back um so I I think it might be a a three-man rotation and then you throw Cameron in the fire so I don't know if again if if bazilly can draw some Miami Defenders to him that that opens up a lot more stuff um but tech one last year Darius Maddox hit that buzzer Beaty buzzer beater to win last year so this is a opportunity for a win I watched that one of PKS will was not there so that's you're telling me that's that's where going tonight probably we'll go eat my cheeseburger PKS tonight this early end of the season we need to charge them for a sponsorship shall we relive the glory of last year's game in Miami um because I was just looking at so Miami takes a 6759 lead eight point lead with 142 to go Sean Padula makes a jumper Sean Padula makes a jumper Sean Padilla makes a free throw Sean Padula steals the ball gives it Kevin Luma who dunks it and suddenly it's 67-66 like with 40 seconds left to go that all happened in a minute now let's pull down here foul by Padula turnover by Padula we'll kind of gloss over that uh Jumper by Padula in the paint steal by Hunter Couture three-pointer by Darius Maddox it was it was beautiful yeah so so Virginia Tech had gone literally like four minutes without scoring and then they scored what is that I believe I just recounted 11 points in the last 142. yeah and Padula and Maddox were huge and that was when both guys were coming off the bench and they combined it to your point uh Padula at 17 Maddox had 13 so they combined for 30. storm only had two points um you know so that was I don't remember exactly maybe you guys remember exactly when that game happened in the season but that was that was just I was I was in mid to late February that was after Tech lost to UNC yeah I think it was the next weekend yeah at home yes yeah yes that was uh scroll up to the top of the box more let's see what it says um because I mean that was the game I think that gave Virginia Tech a chance so that was February 26th and that made the Hokies ten and eight in the ACC so Tech guy that was the third to last ACC game and Tech had probably Louisville at home which was a win and then uh Clemson on the road to end this season and and that Tech ended up finishing 11 and 9. um but that but that was text only regular season quadrant one win and and correct right and you look at this year Virginia Tech is as we talked about as I wrote about last week text in a much better place right it's gonna fluctuate but Penn State's Tech beat Penn State Oklahoma State both at neutral sites they're both once a quadrant one game one's close to a quadrant one game Duke's currently a quadrant one game you can get a Miami win and a Virginia win you're you're sitting pretty fine even though you know you don't necessarily have the number of wins so yeah and they're right out North Carolina's 32 as Nick just said this is a good opportunity to get a win again doesn't hurt you but it'd be nice to have it keeping up with this lockdown defense from Couture I'm excited to see his pressure on Isaiah Wong who with Kihei Clark I feel like has been in college basketball for years and years yeah well Isaiah 1 goes all the way back to the triple overtime loss in Castle pre-covet when Wong as a freshman had 27 points including 14 of 14 from the free throw line we were screaming bacon the whole time thought you know thought we could rattle him yeah no 27 points as a freshman now he hasn't scored that many against Tech since then but that that's a guy that I that I've ever every time because of the his because of the first time we ever saw him we've been terrified of him ever since yeah even if he didn't play that great I'm still terrified yeah yeah somebody in the message board said something the other day about oh he schools US every game and I went and looked it up and he really does no but he did that first no but but he's had good teammates and I think that's that's the thing like Cameron mcgusty who was there last year left now it's Jordan Miller and as I wrote in my preview which you can go check out at texasideline.com Jordan Miller is efficient Justin months will guard Jordan Miller um he's like top 30 in the country in terms of offensive rating he's really really good um Nigel pack is the point guard Wong's shooting guard um I forget who their three-man is uh Wooga Poplar I think is his name um this is a really good Miami team again insanely good offensively like number 12 I think in the country and often a Joseph off into efficiency not as good defensively this could be a shootout um I'm really excited 7 P.M ESPNU um again this could be one Virginia Tech wins and like you said it's not like Isaiah walks towards Virginia Tech every single time maybe it's because he's been guarded by Hunter Couture well you just know he can yes he has that ability well huge game tonight even bigger game on Saturday against Virginia at home any last words from you in the fourth chair will no I think we need to wrap this thing up and get it posted I have a common law quiz shortly after this I need a review for another great episode of the tech sideline podcast when I thank you for tuning in and thank everybody on set today Chris Coleman lead analyst and calmness protect sideline you can follow him at Chris Coleman TSL on Twitter David Cunningham managing Etter he's editor he's at the real decana on Twitter will Stewart founder and general manager for Tech sideline he's at will Stewart TSL on Twitter Nick Brown producing thank you Nick and I'm your host Katie Adams signing off on episode 282 of the tech sideline podcast enjoy the game tonight hookies fans and we'll see you Monday foreign [Music]