Virginia Tech secured its first winning football season since 2019 and its first bowl victory since 2016 in a 41-20 victory over Tulane. Sit down with the Tech Sideline crew as they break down the bowl victory, transfer portal news and recent basketball game breakdowns in this episode of the Tech Sideline Podcast!
Time Stamps:
0:00-0:17 – Ad Read
0:18-1:50 – Tech Sideline Podcast Intro
1:51-5:10 – The Hokie Way NIL $250,000 Fundraiser
5:11-7:22 – Tech Sideline New Years Resolutions and Looking Forward to 2024
7:23-10:11 – Instant Thoughts on the Military Bowl Win Over Tulane
10:12-11:48 – Tulane Was Shorthanded
11:49-14:14 – How Did Virginia Tech Pull Away in the Second Half
14:15-20:10 – The Rushing Game Was Lethal
20:11-30:26 – What Changed With the Offense During the Season?
30:27-35:30 – Everyone Was in on the Fun in the Bowl Game
35:31-41:54 – What Did This Bowl Victory Mean to the Team
41:55-44:59 – Yes, the Weather Was THAT Bad
45:00-59:35 – Roster Changes Since the Military Bowl
59:36-1:03:39 – How Good of a Season Did the Virginia Tech Coach’s Have?
1:03:40-1:04:02 – Break Time
1:04:03-1:21:25 – Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Bumpy Out of the Gates vs Wake Forest
1:21:26-1:30:30 – Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball Starts ACC Play in Dominant Fashion
1:30:31-1:33:35 – Coming up on Tech Sideline
1:33:36-1:35:16 – Outlook for Virginia Tech Football and the Offseason
1:35:17-1:36:31 Tech Sideline Podcast Outro
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Tech sideline is presented by First Bank and Trust Company the bank that puts you first they can meet your Banking and financing needs for personal agricultural business Commercial mortgages and so much more visit first bank.com to learn more Virginia Tech football ran all over Tan in a 40 to
4120 win in the military bow today we’re going to recap the game and talk about what stood out from the Hoke first winning season since 2019 and will’ll get you up to speed on basketball 2o that’s all coming up on episode 339 of the tech sideline podcast which starts right Now Happy New Year to all who are listening we’re recording on Tuesday January 2nd 2024 from our Hightech studios in the Virginia Tech corporate Research Center remember to like subscribe and refer the show to a friend and head over to techsideline.com to check out our extensive editorial content as always
The first month of subscriptions is free I’m David Cunningham Tex iselin’s managing editor across from me is Will Stewart our fantastic founder and general manager who recently celebrated a birthday uh to my right is Chris Coleman our lead analyst and columnist who celebrates his birthday and L than a
Week uh and behind the scenes producing is Nick Brown his birthday’s in February uh one of our extremely talented student interns from the VT SMA program uh Tex iDine is presented by First Bank and Trust Company this episode is also presented by The Hokey way and will is
Going to bring us up to date on what’s going on with their recently concluded Stone by Stone campaign right so to remind everybody I know yall listen to the podcast regularly so you’re up to speed on this but just in case the uh hokey way had a $250,000 fundraising
Campaign that started on November 28th and ran through December 31st and its goal was to raise $ 250 50,000 of which that would be matched so the potential here was half a million dollars raised um The Hokey W sent out an email yesterday they they you know
I’ve been trading emails with them and they been giving some updates via Twitter but they sent out the email yesterday after the campaign was concluded and they blew way past the $250,000 goal they raised $427,000 so with the $250,000 match that is $677,000 raised for uh Virginia Tech nil
And in support of their uh charitable uh organizations that they partner with now here’s here’s what I found interesting about that uh in the email they said and and this is a classic example of of two different ways of raising funds um in the email they said that uh 761 donations compris the
$427,000 now on Tech sideline we had a form that you could donate through Tech sideline and that was tracked and Tech sideline wound up let me pull this up on the phone 513 of the 761 donations for let’s call it $110,000 it was $19,900 so tsers through the form on Tech
Sideline comprised 67% of the donors donations but you know in air quotes only about a quarter of the money and that’s because t uh the Hokey way can go directly to big donors and get big donations and that’s how you know a lot of this fundraising is done but what
Tech sideline did represents the crowdfunding support the the crowdfunding part of fundraising and we I ran the numbers yesterday I don’t remember exactly what they were but the average donation that the Hokey way was responsible for was something like uh 1,200 bucks with the matching contribution it’s like 2600 bucks
Whereas on the tech sideline the average donation was about $200 so I just think it’s a really neat example of of of those two different ways of raising funds so wanted to thank everybody that donated through Tech sideline that was really cool our original goal was
75,000 I I almost went for a 100 when I was setting it up with him and I’m like nah let’s but uh you know uh TSL readers came through for us and that is awesome 677 Grand and again that’s just in one month and uh I no doubt got turbocharged
By the uh the optimism after the win and the uh Military Bowl yeah which we’re going to talk about and I bet there’s absolutely no coincidence at all that Virginia Tech retained all their top players and had a good portal class yeah sometimes correlation is causation yeah
We’ll uh we’ll get into some of that here in a sec uh we’re going to cover a bunch of stuff today between football and basketball and we obviously start with the bowl game but first happy New Year it is 2024 how was your Christmas
In the end of 2023 and what are you most looking forward to this year H Christmas was good um you know went back to Danville for a few days uh what was your second question what are you most looking forward to this year packing on five more pounds of
Muscle yeah I’ve actually lost weight yeah um I’ve lost like somebody else on this set needs to lose some weight um I would say oh I don’t know I’m thinking about I would say generically say next football season which would be accurate but I’m thinking about changing up my
Annual European trip this year obviously going to uh to London to watch a Tottenham game but I actually think I might take take a train across the English Channel and uh o and do some of my like World War II stuff that I’ve always wanted to do like go to Bastone
And then take the train back to Normandy and all that have you been to Normandy no no so I’m about to show my ignorance here you mean there’s a train that goes over the English Channel under under it wow I didn’t know that tunel how many
Miles long is that or kilom is it the Chunnel is that yeah I think it’s called the Chunnel the channel tunnel yeah very clever yeah it’s the channel tunnel yeah yeah you can take that train and be in like Belgium within like from London almost 32 mil long yeah wow impressive
Very fast train that’s longer than the uh uh chess be Bay Bridge talk no I have taken a ferry across the English Channel before but you know it’s more Scenic I will say yeah all right how was your Christmas will how was your birthday good we had uh Christmas was good we had
All the kids in the house all of my kids are graduated from college in case you don’t know congratulation yeah my youngest annaise graduated in December from Tech uh she did all right she graduated with a 365 or something like that so that’s pretty good um so all of the kids are
Out of college they were all home so that was very cool and birthdays are not a big deal at my house we don’t do anything I just sat around and like you know drank beer and watch football games just like the rest of you not a bad way
To end 2023 well I got to sleep late I slept till like 10:30 that so that’s that’s what the birthday is to me I get to sleep late uh in terms of the bowl game Virginia Tech won 41 to to 20 over two lane uh we’re recording this almost
A week later um because of the new year and because the bowl game was on a Wednesday December 27th in Annapolis lots and lots of rain feel like cence clear water revival like wrote a song about uh overall thoughts from the game how was your viewing experience good I
Watched it at PKS it was the only bar open in downtown blackburg so it was packed oh cool yeah uh so uh you know good viewing experience there uh there’s some TSL subscribers in there that came up and said hello uh you know it it was
One of those things it’s like okay just like that it’s seven nothing too lame because of a fumble but you just kind of roll your eyes and you’re like I still think Tech’s the better team and it’s going to play out that way um and and it
Did ultimately um I think Tan’s two touchdowns were very fortunate obviously tan had a couple fumbles too that Virginia Tech turned into touchdowns uh yeah so that kind of washes it washes out so to speak uh and the Tech won by 21 and I think that’s a fair reflection of that
Game yeah I mean uh tane wasn’t Florida State in term of the number of op opt outs you know but they had uh they’ lost their starting quarterback to opt out and head coach was going somewhere else three assistants yeah we we detailed all that in the preview and I’m sorry I can’t
Regurgitate like how many players had opted out I think one of their better Corners had opted out but I think and and I put this uh my my Monday thoughts on a Tuesday article is going to run later today and I I think uh well two fir first thing is two
Thoughts yeah I thought I thought Tech was going to win but this game stayed close because of the weather and the mistakes um T Lan definitely benefited from a couple of short Fields um at late in the third quarter tan was on Tech’s 5 yard line it was 277 they were 5 yards
Away from making a 2724 very late in the third quarter so even though I felt like Tech would win there was always that concern that something crazy would happen and they would lose and the other thing that that didn’t get talked about in the postgame
As far as I’ve seen is you know Jesus Machado the linebacker for Tain got hurt on the very first play of Virginia Tech’s second possession and he was out for the game and that’s a guy that led them in tackles was I think second Team all aacc good player and I you know
We’ll never know how much that hurt them uh but it’s possible that Machado being out or makado if it’s pronounced that way I’m not sure how it’s pronounced it’s possible that him being out really did them some damage and and that’s part of the reason Tech was able to run for
362 yards well and and they lost they were they were messing around with their quarterbacks uh Kai Horton played most but but Justin uh ietta IA played and then got injured so they they the depth that they did have some of it was eventually kind of cut a little bit I I
Think they messed around with their quarterbacks because uh Horton had already entered the portal right yes so uh they knew he wasn’t coming back next year most likely or or maybe they were planning on having sort of a uh start let’s let’s see how both of them do in
The ball game and then everybody can sort of re-evaluate their situations well now maybe Horton maybe Horton will decide to come back because if if the other guys hurt bad yeah he did decide to come back yes so if the other guys hurt bad he’s pretty much the guaranteed
Starter at two lane now not that this is two a two lane podcast honestly I don’t think it mattered like that their quarterback was out like he’s a really good passer what good would that have done them that’s true I don’t think it mattered that their top wide receiver
Opted out I don’t think it mattered that their top cornerback opted out as it turns out their defensive ends that we thought were going to opt out decided to play yeah yeah and and they’re all conference caliber defensive ends and Tech still ran over them so I think
Those opt outs did not affect things like people thought they would simply because of the weather and The Possession the positions that those guys play I think the biggest op that was obviously the quarterback and with him not playing he was I mean he was their best two Lane’s best player I think
Across the board with him not playing uh kind of I think it kind of changed some things but you’re right so Tech fumbles on the first POS on Tech’s first possession two lane Scoops it up immediately scores it’s 7 nothing Tech responds it’s 107 at the end of the
First quarter they TR uh two lane field goal Tech touchdown pass coming out of the uh SEC coming out of halftime at the start of the third quarter tane touchdown it’s 1717 Virginia Tech out scores tane 24 to three yep over those final two and a
Half half a quarter and a half almost two quarters um were you Chris were you surprised at at how the game eventually shifted in Tech’s favor or I think the weather obviously there were eight fumbles in the game very very sloppy for both teams Tech had five fumbles only
Lost two of them but I think the weather kind of played into how close the game was like will mentioned for almost an entire two three quarters you know I that’s you could say the same thing like so they fumbled a punt the tech turned into a touchdown right and then they
Fumbled the uh I think it was on their own uh no it was on it was like that was when they were driving and ferus pay made the the play and he broke through and forced the fumble uh yeah I mean their their second fumble oh yes would most Phillips forced
It towards the end of the game short field and Tech turned that into a touchdown both teams turn two fumbles into two touchdowns on either returns or short Fields so that wiped each other out so in the end Virginia Tech won this game by 21 points if neither team had fumbled
Then they still would have won by 21 points I think I mean Virginia Tech was 21 points better um how it would have played out if the game hadn’t been wet I don’t know I expect Dron still would have run all over him and Toton would have still run all over him there’s
Nothing you can do about that uh if if you’re two lane I mean when your linebacker gets hurt and I just I think Tech was is just in a good place they they have a lot of confidence right now and uh you know tane I just don’t think
The the American was a very tough League Boston College beat SMU in in the Fenway B exactly and what what had SMU done do done to to l l handily pretty easily I just don’t think that’s a good League this year you mentioned drones and Tutton lethal one to punch in this game
Drones had 70 uh 176 yards on 20 carries he averaged 8.8 yards per carry basal toon had 136 yards 18 attempts 7.6 average as a team the hokes finished with a season High 362 yards rushing which came on the final play of the game Tech broke the 361 that was the previous
Season high on 50 plays 7.2 average this is with an offensive line that has kind of you know been been up and down at times maybe not the most consistent group but 3 62 yards rushing against a rushing defense that had been pretty good all year that’s that’s impressive so let me
Jump in here and add that remember drones on on the fumble that was returned for a touchdown drones got tagged with an 18 yard loss so his other 19 carries he gained 194 yards he also had a seven yard loss on a fumble later that was recovered by Tech crazy Tech
Could have run for 400 yards and he was sacked right before the half right yeah yeah so so yeah those are those are crazy numbers and you’re right it came against a uh what had what had been a good run defense D Lane was top seven
Yeah um so one of the things I wrote about in my article that’ll get posted later today is Virginia Tech rushed for 362 yards average 7.2 yards a carry like you said and the PFF run blocking grade is a 54 Tech’s ninth best that ranks ninth for the
Season in run blocking there’s a disconnect there between how PFF has grading Virginia techs primarily the offensive line the Run blocking also includes wide receivers and tight ends but there’s a disconnect between pff’s grading of Virginia Tech’s run blocking and the huge gaping holes that I saw all
Day long I thought they were pretty harsh now I have I don’t think they finalized their their numbers until after the bow I don’t mean to say that like I think those numbers that are still up there were still the immediate initial stuff um but you know when I
Went back and watched some of the game the next day particularly on the last couple drives of the game Tech’s offensive linemen were wearing out those guys like especially on the on that last touchdown the uh 12 y by toon I mean you saw Parker Clemens and uh I forget who
Was I think I think it was schik who was at Right Guard I mean they they they were blocking their guys y downi yeah yeah um so I thought it was a good performance by by the techline in this game uh I don’t think tan has much depth and uh
I think that’s that’s one of those games I texted one of my friends who was on the tech team in 1996 remember how they just wore people out in the second half and I said this is seriously some 1996 stuff going on here I mean I I thought
It was very similar to the Boston College game the further that game went the more it went downhill as the two lane players just like the Boston College players they figured out we’re not going to be able to We Can’t Stop them so you you break them like that and then they
Mentally check out and it gets worse than it could have been or would have been right uh Tech did the same thing against against UVA but UVA checked out a lot earlier than those other two teams because they’re UVA um so I ran the numbers in Virginia
Tech in their first three games they were one of the worst rushing teams in the country in terms of yards per game 83 and yards per carry which is 2.37 and that ranked 130th and 132nd out of 33 teams three games into the season in the remaining 10 games Virginia Tech
Averaged I think it was 221 yards rushing and 5 point something yards per carry which would have ranked if they’ done that the whole season number five and number six in the country respectively this was literally one of the best rushing attacks in the country in the last 10 games and nobody’s
Talking about that probably because Virginia Tech had 11 yards on the ground against Purdue yeah B Tuton had eight carries for four yards in that game y can you I mean that’s why I say you go back and play that game over you they that Tech could not run
The ball until the Marshall game and then they quit running it against Marshall right when they actually finally were able to run it they quit doing it during the middle of the game so it was extremely frustrating and that’s why I’ve kept saying I would love
To go back and play couple games early like I give ruter full credit for having a good defense in a strong running game so I’m not not throwing that one in there but Tech is better than Purdue Tech is better than Marshall this was more like an 8 and4 team this year
That’s why n and four they went that’s why I have high hopes for this team going in the next year yeah so let’s let’s drill down into the record thing a little bit and it’s it’s relevant because Tech has to play him at home next year um did you watch their
Bowl game oh they won yet another game where their quarterback didn’t throw for 100 yards Kyle manangi that running back against Miami and he’s coming back and he’s coming back this is a physical team that can really run the football that’s coming in Lane Stadium next year do not sleep on that
Match up don’t think oh my gosh I remember going to that ruers game in 1998 yeah they stink 59 to7 right uh yeah manangi had 163 yards on the ground on 25 carries average 6.3 yard they 6.5 they threw for Gavin whim set had 84
Yards I I I think he had 36 against Tech and Tech lost yeah right uh so no some of that’s Virginia Tech a lot of that’s right 46 excuse me well that’s different that’s a big difference yeah just yeah yeah but but I think you go back and
Look it’s interesting to look at the pure numbers because obviously the numbers say that after that game Virginia Tech was great running the ball with the exception of the Louisville game which tech only had 68 yards on the ground now that was a very good Louisville team but I also think the
Commitment to the Run was different if you remember the pit game Virginia Tech ran the ball 59 times against pit this was the week after Tech played Marshall Tech ran the ball 30 times in the first half against pit that’s the total number of carries in that entire game against
Marshall now now Chris talks about the scheme change and everything and I yes I think as I think Tech kind of turned a corner and found some conf confidence and had to change it up you’re one and three backed up against the wall kind of
Do or ey and this was this was a program that people were calling for Tyler Bowen people were saying yeah I mean we we sat on this podcast and said what in the world’s going on because it wasn’t like it wasn’t like Tech was just playing poorly it was Tech seemed set up
Poorly yeah the game plan when you’re averaging over six yards per carry you don’t keep running the ball you you pass it did Tech had 199 yards rushing against you’re talking about the Marshall right Tech had 184 yards against Marshall on 30 carries that’s over six yards per carry but stop
Running the ball nine for 88 yeah I mean that first drive was run run run score a touchdown and then up let’s stop to that point Virginia tack I don’t believe had a more than 30 did not have a play rushing of 30 more more yards and had
Like tyon Jones on Tech’s first drive scores a running play of over 30 yards I think the biggest thing is as the season went on Tech got more comfortable running the ball more that doesn’t necessarily mean that the offensive line was a whole lot better I think it steadily improved and steadily
Got more comfortable that unit got better but if you look at at what tech averaged I look at like that Syracuse game Tech had 318 yards on the ground on yes 53 carries but it was like Tech knew that was its identity you talk about the
96 team and kind of running it down people’s throats making it tough physical we’re going to run the ball and you have to stop it it was like eventually as the season were on Kiren Jones bashall Tuton that combination and even Malachi Thomas at some point point that just became Tech’s identity
And yes Tech has some really good wide receivers that are coming back next year that didn’t probably get as many reps as many passes as they probably should have but I think as the season wore on you saw Tech uh ba it was Tech was more balanced offensively Tech threw it more
When it should have I mean obviously uh Kiron Jones had a couple passing touchdowns in the bowl game but Tech also ran for its most yards of the entire season I think you’re dead on about about the commitment to the run it’s almost like I
I I’ll be honest I was at my lowest point ever as a virgin Tech fan after the Marshall game I just thought there was no way this was going to work this this offense uh the the offense that was existing at the time uh I and what was so disappointing is
Because I thought the entire time they were capable of playing a lot better that’s why I was disappointed yes and clearly they were capable of playing a lot better so clearly I had a right to be disappointed um it’s almost like Brent Bry went in the staff meeting the
Day after the Marshall game and said we need we need to we need to retool things guys we need to come up with something different here we got to figure out who we are and we’ve got to come up with a different way of doing things and ever since they made that reset
Uh it’s it’s it’s been great it’s been F it’s been really good offensive football I think uh I think drones is a great fit for what they’re trying to do and and I think uh they do a really good job with with him uh using him in the running
Game um I think there are times where Tech powered it down team’s throats like you saw and other times it’s been smoking mirrors uh I I still remember one of my favorite plays from the Syracuse game uh it was like a 38 yard run by drones up the middle and Bob shik
Ran 30 yards down field and never touched anybody the entire time because the the play call and the motion had just sucked all the linebackers on one to one side of the field so Tech didn’t have to block anybody so if you’re PFF how do you even grade Bob he
Literally never nobody he gets a zero right exactly yeah so uh I just I just think everything turned around and whatever they did after that Marshall game wish they had done before of course but I’m not you’re I’m not going to go back and nitpick it because I’m happy
With with where they are now and uh it’s I think it goes to show you what a fine line things are in football well like you’re never as poorly talented as you think you are I don’t think it’s uh so much stuff is going through my head while you while you two
Guys are talking and you know we’ve had pry on the podcast two or three times and I think he’s always very forthcoming with his answers and certainly we’re going to try to get him on um uh fairly soon you know it depends upon their these guys have worked hard they need
Some time off you know so we’ll see how that breaks but I’m definitely no I’m talking about the football guy okaya needs some time not not these guys oh he’s on vacation right now right exactly but I I do want to ask him and he he doesn’t usually lapse into coach speak
But I do want to ask him Coach no coach speak literally what happened between the Marshall game and the pit game and tell me how did how did this break down how did it happen I don’t know there’s really been asked that yeah I think I
When I go back to I you were down in covering basketball in October of 2022 uh the ACC basketball kickoff so I went into interviews that week right and I asked Pride basically I asked him how do you fix the offense and and I’ve used these quotes so many times in articles
And he’s he started saying things like we can’t be so vanilla we’re not using our Personnel right we’re too easy to draw a bead on offensively he was so honest and so all and so forthcoming and I agreed that’s what I kept writing about I agreed with him 100% he’s the
Most forthcoming honest head coach coach Tech has ever had when it comes to answering questions like that so to me going back to the middle of the last season he wanted to see something different so where was the disconnect why did it take so long to see something
Different will always be the biggest question my answer would be I don’t think and this is not against Grant Wells but when he’s the quarterback coming out of fall Camp he is not as athletic he is not K we talk about how well Kiron Kiron Johns
Ready for 176 yards Grant Wells is not doing that in a game right and and I and I think I think the Purdue game was by far Tech’s worst game of the year because there’s no way like you play that game now there’s no way Tech if tech ran the
Ball 22 times Tech would only have 11 yards rushing right right the next two games Kiren drones is in and Tech I think was sort of feeling things out and I think that after the Marshall game was kind of a maybe a come to Jesus moment sort of thing where where where Tech
Realized like I think the pieces were like sort of in place I mean Tech against Marshall again weal like Tech ran the ball well Tech just didn’t run it enough against pit Tech ran it ran it plenty and and I think you slowly saw the team develop an identity it just so
Happened that in those first couple games of the year Tech was just out of it and I think it was a combination of coaches you know trying to force something here trying to get everybody involved at the same time I mean you look at at the the passing numbers those
First two games of the year Tech threw for over 250 yards in both games Tech through it 18 times 18 times the next two games with drones Tech through it 19 times 19 times 190 160 yards drones is still figuring it out but but but that
Pit game felt like the first time that everything clicked together that Tech knew we’re going to run the ball here and we’re going to pass the ball here while incorporating more motion and as the season went on I think this is a credit to Tyler Bowen and the offensive
Staff and a guy like Brent Davis who obviously had a big big part in it but everybody just like I said got more comfortable and it’s it’s crazy to think that this team started one and three yeah so so couple things um number one sure Grant Wells was a quarterback but
You can still incorporate eye candy and motion for for misdirection which I weren’t doing yes number two uh everybody wants to know what changed after the Marshall game and and I just got a chuckle because I was just thinking I know the week after that
Marshall game I I never said any of this on the website or the message boards or publicly but people were asking me like what’s going on and I said listen I know how this ends it ends with one or both coordinators getting fired at the end of
This year and Brent pry getting fired at the end of next year and that’s the kind of things I was saying to people privately well maybe Brent pry went into the meeting room and said if we don’t change this is going to end up with one or two coordinators getting fired at the
End of this year and me getting fired at the end of next year maybe he finally put his foot in the on on the ground and just said this has to change I don’t know we’ll get a chance to ask him yeah uh as far as uh the the bowl game itself
Uh we we got a I enjoy the conversation we’ll talk more about kind of tech going forward and the the off offseason momentum which obviously you wrote about and I’m sure you did in in your Tuesday thoughts as far as the bowl game was concerned I think one of the biggest
Things that stuck out to me being there in in the Press Box IND Anapolis covering the game was the number of contributions teched out from all over the place um Peter Moore has a 51 yard punt that two lane fumbles the first guy to hop on it is is dwan Lofton he’s in
The transfer portal he’s not going to be here Aiden green makes a hell of a catch Aiden green had a great catch uh Feld Darius Payne bursts through the line forces a fumble Antoine pow Ryland picks up Mo Phillips forces a fumble that Monsour Delan picks up the two tight
Ends Harrison St Germain had his first catch and first touchdown reception on the same Drive Benji Gosnell had his first ever touchdown reception it was like Tech got contributions from everyone all over the place even will Johnson I don’t think we were talking about in The Press Box no way that was
An intended that was the the the kickoff a at the very end of the first half was intended to hit the two-lane player absolutely but will Johnson goes and jumps on it yeah that is that is a play that yeah it didn’t end up really meaning anything but that’s a hustle
Play by a guy who you know doesn’t hasn’t really been a factor all season on defense at linebacker and he jumps on a a a ball on special teams like those are kind of gamechanging plays in some ways we’ve actually got a picture from that game of
Him making a tackle will Johnson yeah and it is perfect form tackle absolute perfection um he is a guy who I would like to see given an opportunity to be in the two deep Pro maybe at the will spot next year like I I personally would move Kelly Lawson to Star will Johnson
Was a guy who I thought was a good football player coming in out high school but he hurt his shoulder twice and had two shoulder surgeries his first two years on campus so he’s been behind from a developmental standpoint I still believe there’s a good football player
In there somewhere though but for him to improve at this point he’s going to have to get two deep reps and can he play the Mike oh he can play either one either Mike or will um uh so 62226 yeah he could play Mike or will um but I would
Personally like will but but you know whatever but yeah you’re right lots of different uh contributors I don’t think it’s hard to have a 51 yard punt in that weather like Peter Moore did I mean you’re you’re lucky if you can even get the first of all you just want to catch
The ball right I mean that that that was hard enough in weather like that yeah and I and I thought uh just think Tech played a good game overall and I expected him to play a good game I thought they were going to be better
Than t l and they played to the level I thought that they could play I didn’t necessarily I didn’t see 41 points per se I think I picked him to score 31 I think we all were picking in the 30 something to 20 something range I picked
Him 31 to 20 so yeah what what stood out to you guys about the way Tech play defense I thought Tain was a little bit late trying to get Makai Hughes heavily invol were yeah um this is a guy who 15 carries this is a guy who rushed for
Almost 1,300 yards this year and he’s a Workhorse I mean he had like three or four games of over 25 carries this is a guy who can shoulder the load what is a better opportunity to shoulder the load than in a game where it’s pouring rain
He ended up with and it’s not like you know will you’re right I mean this was Tech was in control but at the same time this was a tie game early in the third quarter and this was a one score game early in the fourth quarter similar it
Was like almost some it was like the Wake Forest game it was was close at those points but yet you feel like Tech was still always in control well let me jump in it real quick don’t don’t want you to keep going but the way coaches
Think of it is there’s a point at which you leave your game plan and Tain didn’t arrive at that point till the end of the third quarter so Makai should have been running you should have been running it and uh he had uh 15 carries for 88 yards
And average 5.9 yards per carry and this is a guy who routinely had over 20 carries a game during the regular season and it’s pouring rain and you only give it to him 15 times with your starting quarterback out what are you thinking so so the other thing I know
We’re talking about how Tech plays defensively but I want to talk about how to Lan played defensively Virginia Tech’s first third down what do they do they run the quarterback draw up the middle for I don’t know 10 12 15 yards and I actually went on either the
Message boards and Twitter and I said oh QB draw didn’t see that coming did you to Lane and they got sucked in by it the whole game it’s like they did they weren’t aware that that’s what Virginia Tech was going to do well you know I don’t even we even who their defensive
Coordinator was it was it was one of the defensive backs coach I should back off but but like but that’s what happens when you have a interim defensive coordinator I mean interim had like who knows how much the players are paying attention to what they’re saying um I I I think like just
Being there not that two lane didn’t want but you could tell Virginia Tech really wanted it yeah and I think talking to some of the seniors after the game Talking to Allen Tisdale talking to Feld Darius Payne talking to nurel Paul about just what it means to go out like this to beat
UVA to beat two lane in the Military Bowl what does it mean that David teal uh had had had this great stat first time Virginia Tech’s won its last two games of the Season since 2015 Frank Beamer’s last year wow long time I mean first time TCH won a bowl game since
2016 but yeah to to to go out like that you talk about momentum we can get into that conversation right now Virginia Tech yes has a lot of a bunch of guys that are are going to be leaving uh contributors whether Allan Tisdale guy who had been here since 2018 F
Darius pay a guy who unfortunately doesn’t have more eligibility left because he had a all ACC season and didn’t get talked about enough Nell Pard Mar I mean there were a lot of guys that that contributed that have kind of left this program on a high note I’m glad you
Brought up Fel Arius pay I think I think we should give out a Fel Arius Payne every award every year for the most underappreciated player on the team uh he that guy is one of the highest grading defensive tackles in the country on PFF he also had I think it was 10
Tackles for loss this year so double digit tackles for loss he played I think fewer than 300 snaps so one of the things I’m going to do I think later this week I’m going to do a little inside the numbers I’m going to pick out all the all the defensive linemen
Who had who had double digit tackles for loss this year and see how many snaps they play I bet there’s very few if any besides him that did it in under 300 snaps I think that was one of the most productive seasons of Virginia Tech defensive tackle has ever had and it
Went under the radar definitely went under the radar because technically he didn’t start yeah and and um wow just totally lost my train of thought um oh I loved this what I was going to say is I loved his quote about uh about the play he made where he where he forced the
Fumble he just said words the effect of oh you know I’m just looking at him I’m thinking I can probably shoot this Gap and somebody needs to make a play and why not me yeah I I think he’s going to have a chance to go to the NFL um you
Know you could put five or 10 pounds on him and try to play him pass rushing defense tackle is like a three Tech um or maybe uh you could play him as a bigger defensive as a defensive end on odd fronts I mean you’ve got some options there but he’s too productive to
At least not get a look to at least not go a roster in the preseason somebody give him a chance yeah he’s he’s got the want to um he’s uh I never I never got a chance to talk to him he uh he actually lived right next to my daughter over on
Warren Street and I did meet his family enjoyed meeting his family and um it’s funny I was I was thinking about I saw a picture the other day of Justice Reed you remember him absolutely uh no of course Justice was was cursed by playing during the co year I think so tech fans
Never really got to see him and I was thinking of the contrast between Justice Reed how he didn’t make much of an impact and ferus Payne did and I’m actually wrong about Reed if you go look him up he had six and a half sacks I
Think he had two sacks on the first drive of the NC State game first game of the year I know like the very first play you’re like whoa Good transort Good Portal Edition yeah and you know so he had a solid year it wasn’t like he was
Invisible but uh yeah it’s it’s that’ll be interesting to see your analysis Chris because you you can argue that pay probably should have played more but know what the heck alls well and ends well I think it’s interesting Virginia Tech uh we’ll talk about this in a
Second port in terms of portal editions we talk about how this staff has kind of checked all the checked the boxes when when going after portal guys obviously Antoine pow Ryland had a great season and when you’re playing alongside Anton pal Ryland he’s probably going to get
Most of the credit but ferus Payne was a transfer portal guy last year that had to sit out a year the only reason why he was able to play this year was because unfortunately had an Achilles injury that forced him to get a medical hardship and play come back this year he
Chose to come back this year he didn’t have to he comes back and he has a fantastic year and well it it’s really good that that kind of effort wasn’t wasted last year in a three and eight season that’s true yeah but but it like that’s that’s that’s something where if
He doesn’t get injured he plays last year and he’s not here this year okay and I this is a that’s a great point so I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this before but so Tech 2004 team that won the ACC featured a couple of red shirt senior defensive players that
Would not have been on the team that year were it not for injuries earlier in their career all right so Eric green the cornerback remember he played and started as a true freshman and so he would have been done in 2003 but like before the I think the 20 2002 season he
Tore his ACL and had to set out that year and took a red shirt instead so he was still on the team for uh for 2004 I know who the other one is Jim Davis Jim Davis ripped his heck playing golf playing golf yeah God that sounds
Painful that sounds horrible but so yeah so he had to sit out a season in red shirt and again and again he was playing a lot in 2000 remember he had back-to-back sacks against Clemson in the bowl game so so those are injuries at the time you’re like oh man that’s
Unfortunate but then it turn they turned out to be blessings and disguise long term because I don’t know that Tech wins the ACC that year without either one of those guys that sounds really painful Jim but did you hit the Fairway it’s crazy that you remembered
That yeah that back toback sack I don’t remember what he also Jim Davis also made when they were playing at UNCC that year UNCC was driving for what would have been the tying or winning score and Jim Davis made a big sack on third or
Fourth down to to seal that game and he like you said he would not have been there except he played golf one day earlier in his care he batted down at least one of those passes on Miami’s last Drive yep so yeah wouldn’t have been there for reason I guess uh last
Thing before we get into the bigger picture last thing on the bowl game um disgusting weather luckily I was in Andy and I were in the Press Box sitting next to each other um I made this comment the other day that was the first time during
A game in a Press Box where there have been times where it’s been it’s hard to see the field out of the Press Box this time it was hard to see out of the Press Box window the rain was like it on the window it’s like I’m like looking out
Trying to see through raindrops on the window very weird from your guys perspective watching on television what was the crowd like because the place was pretty full and I think in comparison to the 2018 game that was somewhat similar weather the Virginia Tech fans stuck around probably because
Tech was winning yeah yeah I thought it came across on television really really good it wasn’t miked particularly well yeah it wasn’t miked very well but you could look I could see the pictures on Twitter and from what I could see on TV that it looked like a great Tech crowd
And it was was and and I think it uh you know I think the location obviously uh I I know people in Northern Virginia that I’m friends with that haven’t been to a game in blackburg in years but they went to this game oh yeah and then that’s the
Cool thing about playing in that game um and the announcers repeatedly said it was like a tech home game uh but as far as the rain goes um I I thought the shot they showed that really showed it was they put the camera on the stadium
Lights and the rain was pouring off of the lights it was hitting the lights and then pouring off of the lights and Nick and his dad went and Nick said that uh he said first half it wasn’t too bad he said second half it was miserable it was
Poor when you get to the point where like some of your cameras like the cameras they needed to wipe the lenses off but they weren’t doing it so from some angles you couldn’t even see the game wow yeah wow yeah again I’m sitting up in the Press Box I didn’t really have
That perspective from television but yeah I’m I’m and then that’s why I asked because I know there are a lot of people at home that just decided not to go maybe because of the weather um shout out to Josh bar the uh the guy the communications director of the
Military Bowl he was kind enough to give uh Andy Daman uh Daman sort let David teal and I a ride in his car back to our cars we left the Press Box at like 9 o00 uh and standing water in the parking lot and just pouring rain and it was still
Coming down like it was in the second half at a story about he and his dad were sitting in the front row of the upper deck they had to move back one seat cuz there was 3 in of standing water yeah where they were otherwise
Sitting you know he said it was I looked down and the water was running over my boots so my dad and I moved up on row at least it wasn’t like cold like the 2018 Military Bowl was like 35° or something and right horrible at least it was
Actually some for December warm it was the 98 Music City Bowl I think was 40° in rain really yeah um as always Tech sideline is presented by First Bank and Trust Company as our presenting sponsor First Bank and Trust Company support has been invaluable to TSL helping us bring
You all of the great content across all of our platforms who you choose to bank with can make all the difference bank with First Bank and Trust Company visit firstbank.com to learn more um we can talk about some big picture we also can talk about some comings and goings uh
There’s been some movement lately on the roster that day after the bowl game and Brent pry said this the day before the bowl game on Tech talk live he said Virginia Tech was going to pick up a commitment the day after the bowl game Oklahoma defensive tackle former
Highland Springs uh standout Kevin gilan Kelvin Kelvin Kelvin Kelvin gilam uh Oklahoma transfer third defensive tackle for Virginia Tech this offseason joining anas Peebles from duke and Kamari Copeland formerly of Virginia beach by way of Iowa Western Community College in uh West Point what stands out to you
About Gilliam and how good do you feel about that Trio replacing the very experienced Trio of Pard pay and Kendrick that that was kind of I think that’s a that Trio is probably as good as you could probably expect Tech to do and they’re the three guys that make
Sense I think uh Gillum comes in and he he and fuga he’s a little bigger so he and fuga play the same role whereas Copeland and and uh anas pebles probably play the other role uh I I I think uh I think it things should be fine I don’t know
That back to F Aras pain he was so good this year like I think Peebles will be as good or better than Pard I think Pard was good this year too but I think Peebles is better but I I don’t know that Tech will have anybody that’s as
Good as pay um but I also think Tech huge upgrade at Mike so that that’ll help offset if their defensive tackles maybe aren’t quite as good I don’t know but anyway all three of those pickups were the pickups that make sense both from a talent and experience
Standpoint and scheme fit from uh for the case of peoples like he’s proven against ACC teams he’s a great scheme fit and then there were connections um you know Gillum there’s a Highland Springs connection he’s got the size you’re looking you you recruit a couple of smaller Twitchy or defensive tackles
And now you want to maybe get somebody a little more size to 63 295 yeah yeah exactly and uh so and and then copelan is uh he’s got such a great work ethic uh I actually watched a 20 minute long uh workout type video where he’s given
Advice he wakes up in the morning and shows you what he eats for breakfast and while and actually films himself cooking it he’s got a YouTube channel yeah yeah it’s uh he’s he really works hard to turn himself into the player he is and
He’s a great scheme fit and uh so so I just think Virginia Tech did really well at that position in the off season uh the little little bit about Gilliam um I I don’t remember ferus s pay’s stats coming from he came from Nebraska right
He was a he was a defensive end at Nebraska oh okay so he never had more than like three and a half sacks in a season I don’t think not a particularly impactful guy at Nebraska so it was a pleasant surprise that he was very impactful here um looking at gilliam’s
Stats at Oklahoma um in 2021 and 2022 he played in 13 games had a total of seven tackles um you know with with half a tackle for loss no sacks in 2023 he played in six games and had three tackles and then his bio says that he
Missed six games due to injury yeah it’s not like he didn’t play at Oklahoma like he had I forget how the snaps broke down but he but he was a fringe part of the rotation in 2022 so he played I want to say 70 to 100 snaps that year yeah um
And then he was kind of being used in the same role this year until he got hurt after like the first four games of the Season he came back towards the end and like played in their last two so it’s not like he sat there and was
Rotting on the bench okay right he he was a guy who was Fringe rotation guy for an Oklahoma team that quite frankly plays that brings in a ton of good players right so so so there there’s a lot I think there’s a line of thinking that like oh he never played at Oklahoma
That’s not true he didn’t play a lot but he’s also like you’ve got to be good to get on the field at Oklahoma I would think yeah yeah and and so hopefully Virginia Tech will get out of him what they got out of pain a guy who didn’t
Particularly stand out at his previous stop but can step in and really rack up they’re different style defensive tackles but if you can get the same level of production it’ be great yeah uh no surprise uh another uh transfer portal out Jack hfield uh Center didn’t play much at Virginia Tech played a
Little bit in in some uh later stages of the games obviously special teams um Chris you mentioned it when when uh maybe Andy mentioned it one of you guys mentioned it when you wrote up one of that was one of many things going on the
Day after the bowl game uh in terms of who Virginia Tech is going to have um as backup centers I think this is kind of an interesting conversation Johnny Dixon was one of the guys that he he like in pregame he would rep at Center behind Kaden Moore along with Jack cyfield he’s
Gone too so it’s like you got Kaden Moore who are the other centers the other centers we have no idea at this point there was a walk-on who got a couple of snaps during the bowl game and that’s it um I think you have to I I think it’s tough to rely on
Portal offensive lineman because there’s there just not that many large dudes who can move their feet so they’re at a premium like even even average portal linemen are going to get a ton of offers because nobody’s got good offensive line dep I’m telling you nobody does what
Tech had under Vance Vice there for a couple years was not normal in college football um so I think so centers are large men who can move their feet and snap the ball so they’re even more at a premium and oh by the way if you watched Alabama’s game
Last night their Center was struggling that’s a team that’s in the college football player right right right so it’s Tech’s going to have to manufacture a backup center here most likely uh so who’s that going to be I don’t know I don’t know I think brayan Moore is built
Like a center more like a center than an offensive guard I I I would be inclined to move brillan Moore to Center and you have a rotation there with two brothers and then Cadence’s done after this year and then brilin takes over and but you can start
A bigger guy at offensive guard and I think that gives Tech more size more depth and everything on the offensive line but we’ll see how they uh we’ll see how they approach it in the spring that could be a good question for for Brent pry on the offensive line do you expect
Tech to add more still I know you said you like in terms of in terms of trusting portal guys it’s there’s such a hot commodity there there’s one guy from Florida and I forget his name oh oh oh uh yeah you keep talking I know know he and drones went to together
MZ I don’t but he’s a very good player he started at left guard for Baylor he started at Right Guard for Florida he’s a big guy 65 337 so I want Tech to get bigger up front they have the biggest offensive line this year uh I would bring him in
And he’s he would walk in and start did you did you see so he on on the 30th he tweeted he was in the portal did you see who the first person drones was it was K drones with three emis and if and if you look even before
He entered the portal he was retweeting KY drones highlights from the Military Bowl um now there their offensive lineman are at a premium but a bunch of tech staff members have started following this guy on Twitter and all they need to do if I’m Brent pry as soon
As that dude’s in the portal I’d be I’d be like drones call him right now have have you seen this email from The Hokey way that came the other day exactly so yeah I think he’s a guy who would walk right into the starting lineup and I
Think you’d have the luxury then of moving someone like brayan Moore to Center where well I think brayan Moore is a good player I just think he’s probably more physically suited for Center did and I think you could get a good rotation going on there with him
And his brother this year and when his brothers finished then BR you can do that because Montavious Cunningham’s coming in he’s coming in a Right Guard I think we’ll play Right Guard yeah uh did you check out uh this kid’s grades no uh oh yes PF great yeah overall overall
Offens he graded out at a 69 flat this year he had a 69.1 pass block 68.9 run block now again that’s in the SEC and that would be the best of all I believe the best of all Virginia Tech offensive line last year last year at Baylor and
That was in 730 snaps last year Baylor in 759 he had a 74.4 overall 60 he he had a worse pass blocking 66.9 but a better run block 76.9 so I I bet he could grade Out close to 75 in the ACC and I’m not sold on that Florida coaching staff either which
I think is why he’s probably leaving so I think he would come to Virginia Tech and uh like Antoine pow Ryland play a little bit better than he played in Florida yeah uh the other uh recent announcement Nick Gallow tight end he announced he’s coming back uh on
On January 1st nice happy New Year uh Edition for the hokes uh he did not play this year he had uh a knee injury in a preseason scrimmage that required surgery that forced him to miss the whole year got a medical hardship good to see him back he was a team
Captain super genuine great guy he’s obviously been the Gallow family has been around Virginia Tech because Eric played uh go I mean that’s probably been like 10 years I think uh 2017 was his last year wow yeah and and so the Gallow football Gallow was
2019 kid so it’s like all but like two years in the last decade um that tight end room I think there were some maybe maybe some questions going into that game on just first time Harrison St Germain was playing before the game Andy and I were talking Zeke wimbush was in a
In a walking boot uh he did not play so most of the Reps went to Benji Gosnell and Harrison St Germain Gosnell had played pretty well for most of the Season St Germaine hadn’t really gotten an opportunity dayquan obviously played a lot of the snaps in end of the
Transfer portal but you’ve got those two guys who each caught a touchdown pass first time since 2019 against Miami that Virginia Tech had two different tight ends score a touchdown back then it was dton Keane and James Mitchell to bring Nick Gallow and add him him to the room
Tech’s pretty set there yeah I doubt there’s too many programs in the country that they could say they have three end who scored a touchdown in college game yeah and tech tech will have that next year and if day w i mean had dayquon Wright stuck around they would have well
No he’s never scored a touchdown oh that’s right true he’s never scored a touchdown but um text depth at tight end is good I remember Bowen last year when he was the tight ends coach 2022 he was on the podium and I don’t remember if I asked the question about
The tight ends or not but he said he said he thought Tech signed the best class of tight ends in the country in the 2022 recruiting class gnell and stain or 2023 whatever recruiting class gnell St Germain and Daquan Wright were all in the same class wow um which is
Very impressive when you think about it and that’s slight Hy purpo but I think that’s real quality in a three-man class you keep two of those three you’re always going to have attrition if you have if you sign three tight ends in one class somebody’s leaving it do do that
At every position for for whatever reason um but I think I’ve always thought but they were those guys were red shard freshman this year so it was tough on them to play as many snaps as they had to play I’m high on both guys I’m especially high on guys
Now you got to remember like he wasn’t very strong this year in the Run game but he didn’t get the lift weights the last two years because he was recuperating two torn acl’s tours ACL two years in a row he just needs a year two or three consecutively in the weight
Room to build up his strength and he’s going to be a really really good player um I I like s Germain too I think he’s a a solid Prospect I’m also uh excited for him to score a touchdown I’m assume in front of his family because he’s from
Northern Virginia assume they were all at the game up there stain yeah so so going into the season before Gallow got hurt was he perceived as the blocking tight end I know he can catch but he was perceived as the better blocker and dayquon W was early more I’ll be H well
Yes but by default though honestly none of them could Block in 2022 Okay so they didn’t do wellon not to beat that dead horse again but Tech was so easy to key on defensively that even that it was impossible for the players to block really when def when Defenders know
What’s coming I don’t want to beat that dead horse again but yes he’s a I mean you look at he should re he should be more reliable there now now that I think the offense is they have an identity and it’s it’s not as easy for Defenders to
Key in on plays and things like so here’s a stat Virginia Tech’s offensive line PFF graded out Virginia Tech’s uh run blocking not overall blocking but run blocking graded out at 107 in the country and they ended up with a number 22 rushing attack in the country so if
The offensive line just I I think that’s what holds them back when they when they play a Florida State or a clemon or a Louisville you know that when it gets right down that you got to have some of the better units on the field that’s
When I think they start to struggle so if the offensive line and tight ends can progress as as pure blockers in addition to the offensive scheme they have right now in the skill players it’s it’s it’s going to be a nice jump I think it was
Uh I don’t I don’t know if either of you guys watched the Michigan Alabama game but I thought that that was kind of bully ball watching watching that but yes it is crazy to think about how much success Virginia Tech was able to have we spent a lot of the time talking about
The run and the offensive line is still not quite there yet I think the Michigan what Michigan has done uh is impressive to me I was watching some of that game yesterday and yeah they they had the the players on the offensive line to match Alabama but that I was also very
Impressed with their scheming and how they made Alabama linebackers conflicted like Michigan’s first touchdown they ran a double slant over that middle with a slot receiver and the running back and that alababama linebacker didn’t know which one to go with because he didn’t know which safe if the safy was going to
Not going with either one of them he just stay kind of stood there and was going to cover the inside receiver or the slot receiver as it turns out nobody covered the running back they created a conflict with their motion and their play design and things like that and so
They have it from an ex0 standpoint a smok and mirror standpoint and ver metal standpoint up front the the play that stood out to me most in that game outside of the Fantastic uh catch where the receiver went up in the air off of tip it was a tip pass and he like
Adjusted his body and was able to catch it probably would have been a pick uh had he not caught it uh Michigan had this was Michigan game winning uh or the drive that sent it to overtime on on a fourth and one fourth and two Michigan sent basically adjusted and and
Moved guys around motion guys around and then put the running back Corum who’s a Virginia guy and I also unofficially silent commit to Virginia one time my understanding he took like five straight visits to Virginia Tech and loved it but then his uh uh his high school coach just put him
And some of his teammates in a van and took him on a grand tour of all the big schools in the Big 10 yep can’t I mean he’s playing National Championship Mike sand still former also Mike sand still is a great player for them Alex or’s
Getting play in time cam good is even on that roster yeah um but but Korum got out in the flat I mean this is a fourth and two if Michigan doesn’t convert this Michigan is down a touchdown I think they lose yeah and the way they motion guys around they
Got them they manipulated the matchup and they got Blake Corum on a fourth and two out in space in the flat wide open he got like 30 yards yeah they they seem to go to that every time they needed it Chris was talking about the touchdown
They got that way and that was a key fourth and two yeah yeah and and that’s you know I I’m sure Tyler sitting there taking notes I’m sure he is I mean I thought after the Marshall game I thought the tech coaching staff had a great year I thought what they did
Offensively to fix things after that we’ll be talking about that 10 20 years from now right I just thought that was a really good piece of inseason coaching uh now if you want to be Michigan you’ve got to get a little more horsepower up front because I think
They’ve got the X’s and O’s and things like that they they just uh so so yeah we talk about transfer portal offensive linemen that was one dude I I don’t know not that I not that you would ever do this like you you know promise money to
Transer portal guys no coach would ever do that clearly I wouldn’t do it if I was a coach but if it was within the rules I’m I’m checking maybe they maybe they’ll make that a you they ended up they ended up with what going 300 Grand above their goals in yeah they they
Wound up with $177,000 more than they as far as I’m concerned that’s $177,000 offensive not budgeted I tell you what maybe they’ll make uh nil uh a thing in like the new NCA football video game that’s supposed to come outm they won’t do that would be that would be crazy uh anyway let’s
Transition to basketball before we uh we before we wrap this thing up will I need to take a break oh we can take a break real quick so so you’re going to have to do some post editing yeah yeah yeah all right let let’s take a break uh we’ll
We’ll go to break real quick so we’ll can uh we we can recharge real quick before we uh before we basketball so we’ll be right back welcome back um appreciate you staying with us uh let’s talk basketball briefly before we wrap this thing up uh Virginia Tech men lost
8663 at Wake Forest on Saturday that is a very good Wake Forest team that I don’t think is getting enough credit right now I was there in Winston Salem third worst ACC loss under Mike young it is the in terms of of 20 point losses
It’s the fifth time um Mike a Mike Young led Virginia Tech team has lost by 20 plus points to an ACC team the first two were in Mike Young’s first season in 201920 and those were the Duke and UVA respectively this is third um Chris about about the way Tech is playing
About that game specifically I mean this is this this was Tech getting back into ACC play after starting off with a victory over Louisville in early December Tech goes down to Wake Forest on the road loses ACC opener I found this stat interesting Virginia Tech in its first ACC game on the
Road four straight losses under Mike young Tech kind of just struggles to out of the gate in ACC play on the road your thoughts from watching the game and just the way Tech’s playing right now I agree with you on Wake I I think their
Starting five is as good as any in the ACC that that i’ I’ve seen like Reed makes them a really good player or a really good team like I think they could legitimately win the ACC as far as the regular season that would not surprise me um that said you know it’s concerning
When all of Tech’s losses kind of look the same so there there’s there’s a certain type of team that give them trouble um I think the hes are are incomplete relative to what they have been in the past um I think I’ve always thought Shawn padulla had didn’t really
Doesn’t really play with him himself or the system at times I’ve always thought he kind of push things a little bit too much but I’m not sure he has a choice this year um I’m trying to remember these numbers so last year he wasn’t he didn’t lead
The team in assists last year Justin muts padulla was at 130 to mutz is 152 this year despite missing basically two and a half games due to injury his 44 assists leads the team the second closest is Rex Steiner who has 30 and 11 of those came in one game when padulla
Was out there is nobody else on this team that can pass the ball um like there’s no Justin muts was a special player um Justin mutz was like almost like a false nine yeah in SOC in soccer exactly uh very very much like that and even when you threw it down to
To Kevy Aluma and even to a lesser lesser extent basil those guys were good passers out of the post Tech does not have good passing out of the post now and I think that and when you’ve only got one other effective guard like Couture’s he’s always the same player
He’s a good player but you’re getting nothing no production out of other guard spot basically and then you can’t pass it out of the post there’s no creativity on this team and by that I don’t mean somebody who can just break their man down with a dribble I mean somebody who
Can find a guy with a with a pass and I think I think that forces more onto Padula’s shoulder and the longer that happens the more games he will have like Saturday and he he’s playing he’s playing hurt Mike young said he’s not 100% he’s still trying to get back I
Just I just think it’s not a I don’t know you’re trying you’re still trying to figure some things out I I would like to see Baron go back to to the starting lineup because I think he’s your best passer out of the four and now that he’s hitting making some
Three-pointers I think you can put him back in there and he screens well he the offense moves well when he’s on the floor right right right so I I think when you’ve got Rex Steiner and Baron on the court together that’s your two best passers Rex Steiner Rex Steiner pad
Padulla and uh Baron and Baron on the court together that’s your two best passers and I think they need to be on the court together as much as possible to to maximize ball movement cuz I you know I don’t think Tech did not play great defensively against wake obviously
But again how many Second Chance points were there at one point it was SE like 17 to nothing in Second Chance points right not not that I expect Tech to get many Second Chance points but like the margin of defeat in some of these games is Wake finished with 18 Tech finished
With zero zero wow right and and yeah so the the margin of of defeat in some of these games is very close to actually the margin of defeat in Second Chance points if you look at some of it halfcourt Tech defense is improved um but but I I I think I’m
Actually more disappointed offensively than I am defensively right now so I I want to get the best passers on the court as possible because Mike Young’s offense depends on ball movement and right now there’s no ball movement I mean there there’s not as much ball movement there’s not as much movement on
The perimeter you see Len kid catch the ball and you see four guys just kind of standing and that’s not a staple of Mike offes so there’s something missing here I feel like they need to get their best pass on the court there’s some things about this team that can’t be changed in
The middle of the Season yeah like I don’t think you’re going to magically have a third guard just figure it out and start scoring in double figures and and things like that but uh unless the ball is moving unless the ball is moving that’s the only CH I think I think Tyler
Nickel can sort of unlock that if he’s if the ball is that’s yeah and that’s what I mean I I thought being there in Winston Salem I remember going down in in November over Thanksgiving going down to Disney and in Orlando and watching Tech and I went into that tournament going
Okay Tech’s probably gonna be able to score can Tech defend Tech defended pretty well against Boise State Tech came from behind and had to learn how to defend Tech defended very well against Iowa State a lot of theu against Auburn and Florida Atlantic were runouts where
Tech turned the ball over and gave the other team easy opportunities if you look at this game against Wake Forest 23 points off turnovers for Wake Forest the thing that this this Virginia Tech offense is 83rd in adjusted offensive efficiency 58th in adjusted defensive efficiency this is a much better defensive team
This is like the total opposite of what you normally see under aicu last year I I’ll read you last year’s numbers 31 offensively 139th defensively so much better defensively worse offensively and I think it all goes back to to padulla and the ball has to move the the thing that surprised me the
Most in this game was how Tech seemed out of it at times Wake Forest does not necessarily press all game every game but wake full court press tech for the majority of the game I can understand you know usually like if if you get pressed it it takes
You a couple possessions for you to get used to it you might even go into like the the under 16 media timeout change some things usually you come back out and you’re better against it we’re late it’s late in the first half and and Tech is struggling to inbound the ball they
Don’t look like a confident team no playing like a confident team and I can understand that like cuz I’m not a confident fan right now now I also think that there are certain matchups that are going to be better for them than the one they faced uh this past Saturday um I
Haven’t done my research on Florida State yet I know Florida State’s not good yeah their records lost to lip they lost to lipsum um but I assume they still have that size though right so you’re going to have to do something average yes Ken palom has an average
Height Florida state ranks first that right typical Florida State typical Florida State so my point being next Saturday that game Saturday right yeah next Saturday you’re not necessarily going to be able to throw it to Lyn kid and have him make 70% of his shots in the paint because Florida State’s so
Massive that Ball’s got to move and people have to move on the perimeter and get open shots shot ready when it right exactly so uh Florida State you so so that playing Florida State might Force tech into that yeah if you want to start winning again so I actually I’m actually
Glad Tech’s playing Florida State right now number one they aren’t very good but I think the way Tech needs to play offensively they’re going to have to play against Florida State you’re going to have to focus on that this week because just dumping it down to kid it’s
Not necessarily the answer against a bunch of 73 guys so Florida state has one guy below 65 on the entire roster I I’m like I like would you they the average height is 66 on Florida State uh yes Florida state ranks 72nd in adjusted defensive efficiency but 154th offensively and
This team just lost a lip scum yeah I watching the game at Wake Forest this the media setup is kind of like Tech you’re behind the basket a little bit there was one play where um it when we talk about confidence some like like e an effort kind of thing
There was one play where shot goes up and sha padul is standing there and he didn’t even really like jump up to to grab the rebound Wake Forest guy kind of just didn’t even like have to like push him or anything just jumped up grabbed the rebound put it to back up easy
Basket and pad is just still standing there and I think yes padulla is hurt um but but there are some like just just effort things Tech stepped out of bounds a couple times like trying you know trying to bring the ball up the floor um
Tech had 19 turnovers 12 of them came in the first half that is unlik a Mike young team this team has to pass the ball well and not turn it over and if the team is turning the ball over a lot you’re not this team is not going to win
Very many I I know the easy answer and people on the message boards are going with this is athleticism and things like that but like when there’s no movement you’re going to turn the ball over there’s not enough movement on that offense this year that has nothing to do with
Athleticism like the team that won the ACC wasn’t the most athletically gifted team either and it wasn’t was n a deep te right right and but they they they moved the ball exceptionally well yeah um like like mutz was a good athlete but not like an elite athlete you know but
He he was really skilled with the ball and could pass it from anywhere on the court so that they don’t have that right now the most likely passer out of the four is Robbie Baron and that’s why I think he needs to get back in the
Starting lineup and needs to be on the court with pad as much as possible um I think this team you know can still win games I mean the team that exists right now isn’t necessarily the team that’s going to exist you know in March when the season ends but at the same
Time you don’t want to dig yourself into a hole early um like it’s it’s a in the end it’s a road loss to Wake Forest who’s a good team in my opin quadr one loss correct it’s it’s not a big deal it’s more about what Virginia Tech looks
Like as a whole and and and I think I see them struggling in some areas that have been strengths for them in the past and I see them not making up for that in other areas like you’re not going to have the exact same strength every year
So okay you don’t have muts passing out of the four you don’t have Aluma passing out of the five anymore so what’s your strength going to be right now Tech hasn’t found one they’ve got to find one yeah and I wonder and I know a lot of
Fans are wondering this too is is you know Mike young has offensive and defensive systems that um from Reading GC Hoke 34 on our on our basketball board his systems aren’t predicated on athleticism they’re predicated on players being in the right place at the right time playing the mental part of
The game when your roster is turning over by two three four and five guys year after year after year guys aren’t spending time in the system so the hope for this year is that as as Baron and nickel and those guys get more used to the system that the team gets better
Within the context of this year that’s the hope for the season um and the problem overall though is those guys are are one-year transfer guys soon as they learn it they’re Baron and long yes nckl n sophomore good that’s good that’s a good transfer uh yeah but I I was having
This conversation after at in Winston Salem after the game um I think Grant Bazil not returning was a bigger loss Than People anticipated because he was a he would have been a seconde guy in the system and instead not that not that Barren and long or not capable players
Because I don’t think they are the biggest reasons why Tech is not succeeding right but like that was an all ACC caliber player you lost yeah and it’s it’s not about any of the individual players like we’re people complain about shaon padulla shaan padulla played a big role on an on acc
Title winning team he’s played play in the NCA tournament Robbie Baron’s played in the NCA tournament right I mean these guys have played on winning basketball teams before they’ve won before it’s not about any individual I don’t think um for the most part I do think there’s a
Talent issue with one of the Guard spots that they have that can’t get addressed right now for the most part this is about how the pieces fit together not about the pieces themselves they work together agreed yeah and I think the big my biggest take way was from from that
Game was how easy Tech was to defend at times and it again it goes back to a lot of ball movement Steve Forbes is a fantastic coach I think he’s got a really good team and he was talking after the game about he’s coached against Mike young
Since they were in the socon together in 2016 and he was he was describing what you can and cannot do against Mike Young’s teams he said you cannot go under a single screen you have to fight through every single screen because if you go under then you have to help and then
Somebody’s open and then you’re chasing and then the ball moves around Virginia Tech has to have the ball move and the ball did not move and I thought GC hokei 34 who obviously has pretty good knowledge of the game coach in college made a good
Well he made a good point about um the the focal point in the offense should be more of the back court instead of the front court because getting Lynn kid the ball is important but if you focus too much on him everybody else is just standing around and watching and I think
There were too many times in that game where Tech was trying to force the ball down low and you’re not when Wake Forest is keying in so much on the three on the outside game Virginia Tech did not make a single three in the first half and
Only took five to me it’s not the making it’s the only taking five of them because that shows you how how few opport I mean this is a team team that will shoot if it has the opportunity it didn’t get opportunities it had it was five of 11 in the second half
So I mean you and I asked Mike young after the game and he gave me a very truthful response I asked him about the second half you know it’s like you guys went toe-to-toe with him it was a 4239 game and he said essentially but it doesn’t matter when you get your butt
Handed to you in the first half it does not matter what you do in the second half but looking at the second half are some some positive things to take away but Tech allowed a tenal run at the end of the first half so again Tech’s had a
Week off we’re recording this on Tuesday Tech does not play until Saturday at Florida State some time to relax recharge that is a good opportunity to to kind of get back on on the right track I remember when I was when Tech first joined the ACC it always seemed like I think they
Played him even in a non-conference game when they were still in the their last year in the Big East whenever ever they played Florida State it was like my birthday or the or the game closest to my birthday and it is the game close to
Your birthday you got a bag of poop so I’ve got yeah right so my birthday is next Monday so the Florida State game is the is is the closest one on my birthday um so yeah hopefully uh hopefully it’s a different present this year Well my birthday was Saturday it was going on
While they were playing at w yeah they were they were back toback years where it was in 20 2005 and 2006 it was on January and January 7th yeah and Tech lost both games lost both of them um really quickly just want to touch on on
The women they looked really good on on Sunday uh I was obviously there they’re up to 13th in the country they beat Pit by 50 91 to 41 that’s a record pH margin right it is it was the first time ever Virginia Tech had six players scor in
Double figures in an ACC game uh Tech is at Wake Forest on Thursday in its second ACC game big one I mean this is like maybe one of the biggest ACC game this is the biggest ACC game to date on Sunday Virginia teag host number three
NC State yeah that’s a big one and you know obviously Pit’s a bad team but still 50 points is 50 points and so won an ACC game by 50 points that’s nothing to turn your head about exactly uh so we talk about you know the men’s team the
Pieces have to gel together I think Kenny Brooks’s team maybe you’re starting to see that gelling process happened a little bit earlier than you’re seeing it from the men’s team obviously there’s a higher Talent level there as well I mean there’s a lot of really good players on that team but I I
Also think you know it’s not like they’ve only lost two games and they were both against really really good teams but the thing is like I think they’re capable of playing better than they played against LSU if the jelling process absolutely started a little bit
Earlier um you know so I I think we’re just starting to see how well this team can play yeah and if you look at the net the ACC is a very good conference so Mo most of the games from here will be quadrant one or quadrant 2 or the
Occasional quadrant 3 games there’s maybe one quad one or two quadrant four games on the list I think the other quadrant four game last time I checked was wake fours so then from there it’ll be quadrant one two three games and the big thing is like whenever you do get a quadrant four
Game win by 50 because that really helps your efficiency rankings you know yeah uh this is the team that is is kind of clicking on on all cylinders right now I was very impressed um Tech did not have a good second quarter and then shot 71% in the second
Half it’s like and when you get up what 22 to five at the at the end of the first quarter I think when you all you know how the game’s going to go with that point it’s normal to take a little bit of a mental nap when you win the
First quarter 22 to5 well it’s funny talking to Georgia Amore and and Olivia s Simo after the game they both said said that they just mentally defensively they were they were paying too much attention to the Scout and Kenny Brooks has talked about this before when he has a really good
Team he they can’t give him so much detail because they will literally read into the Scout and do exactly what the Scout says like they’ll come like Georgia was like yeah we’ll come off a ball screen and defend it and then go okay what’s next right and they’re they’re they’re thinking more than
Actually playing basketball and you know eventually they they ended up winning the second quarter 12 to 11 and then they scored 57 points in the second half that’s a that’s a good problem to have when your players listen to your coaches too much SC well the thing well the
Thing I want to talk to you about is Virgin Tech had over 6,000 people at that game on Sunday yeah how about that on I mean that’s a New Year’s Eve matin against pit it’s not like it’s NC State or Louisville yeah or Louisville yeah
That’s um I I did not go I I I watched it on on the watched it on streaming and was blown away when When they scanned around I was like wow that place is full and and I actually had that thought for a moment are the women going to turn out
More fans this year than than the men and I’m not talking about reported attendance I’m talking about butts in the seats yeah because there have been a couple men’s games where the crowds were reported as really good but they were actually not yeah well but at the same
Time I think uh I think the fan base is happy right now you know discarding you know the men’s team isn’t great right now but you come off a bowl win like that you do well in the portal um you’re setting nil records for our own personal nil records I guess um it’s
Sunday afternoon Christmas is over so you don’t need to do any Christmas sh exactly so you know I just I think all the Vibes are good right now and the better The Vibes are the better the crowds are going to be I wrote this I
Put this in my article I don’t know will if you had a chance to read it I think you’ll find this very interesting because you have a long history of covering this women’s basketball program program Virginia Tech right now is on Pace for 73,000 fans in Castle in a for the
Entire regular season the record is 78,000 set in 9899 Tech is averaging it’s right now through uh seven games Tech is averaging 4,900 fans a game that is second most behind the 9899 season which did the NCA tournament games count towards that attendance level so if you get to
If you get I mean yeah essentially Tech would if if tech assuming hosts an NCA Tournament game Tech would break the record for most fans in a season if it stays on Pace in that first NCA Tournament game yeah and so uh tell me what the big difference between 98 99
And today’s uh um situation is 9899 it was free they weren’t charging for women’s basketball no kidding I did not know that no they had to charge for the NCAA tournament it was wasn’t very expensive I think it was 10 bucks a game or something like that and they did turn
Out an average of 10,000 fans a game in in the two games that weekend but yeah to somebody correct me if I’m wrong but no they were they were free back then interesting I think Jim Weaver started charging shortly after that free and not as many entertainment options on there
Was no streaming things like that so now you have to pay and there’s more entertainment options and they’re still turning out at that level yeah it’s uh but but you know that’s what going final four gets you it gets you a devoted following yeah and Kenny Brooks and and
George Amore talked about that after the game which I thought was pretty cool they were Anthony Romano W dbj asked them kind of what 2023 meant to them and what it was like and they kind of said his historic but also what we did last year has kind of
Propelled us and George Amore said if we did not go to a final four and winning AC championship last year these fans would not be here in abundance there wouldn’t be this many here they’re absolutely right I’ll also point out that they have a a likable popular head coach and two likable popular
Players and that helps as well not that the other players aren’t likable and popular but but obviously the two main ones people really like them as as people they’re very popular they win uh so yeah it’s like the perfect storm for attendance yeah that that combination of
Liz kitley and Georgia Amore that it’s two of the greatest players in Tech History um and they’re playing on the same team throwing Kayla King yeah and and I’m and I’m thinking to teams of the past and you know Virginia Tech women’s basketball generally has one has had one
Really good player MH um the 9899 team was uh um I’m I’m they they they did it by committee that was a really good team um and they had some good players but this team has two great players on it generational type players it’s like having Michael Vic and Cory Moore on the
Same team exactly that’s what it’s like uh uh T ter Williams Terry Williams Terry Williams and Amy Wetzel I mean both average and double figures that season um the the last thing I wanted to talk about with that specifically I was impressed by just the the way the ball
Moved and I think Tech is starting to to figure out how to play together and Kenny Brooks mentioned and I thought it was really interesting I I asked him a followup when when you in this era when you have so many new faces each season season and you have like three returners
Like Tech does it takes time to figure out how to play together and and what stood out to me about what Kenny Brooks said was they are you can see it in practice they like Georgia Amore has realized and and Brooks as the coach has realized what everybody’s comfortable
With what set can I run that will get this player open to get a good look Georgia Amore knows where to get this player the ball because that’s where they like it and that’s where they’re most comfortable and that’s something you don’t just walk into the gym on
October 1st when you when you practice and you learn it takes a couple months to play games and learn and so well the point that has to be made is sure they brought back kitly Amore and Kayla King but that’s all they brought back everybody else is new you know Carly
One’s all red shirted but that’s eight nine new players that are trying to figure out how to play with these three established it’s not like you’re breaking in two new transfers it’s B Bally a whole new roster oh yeah and and this is a team that is rolling right now
I think people are kind of undervaluing them which is which is very funny um last thing before we go just want to shout out there is a huge wrestling match tonight Virginia Tech number 11 at number two Missouri Jack brisendine will have extensive coverage of that is a
6:30 p.m. Eastern match on unfortunately flow flow wrestling um what’s coming up on Tech sideline I know Andy bidder who is on vacation that’s why he’s not here he has a special story coming which he we previewed before I believe we’re going to run it tomorrow morning his
Cory Moore interview uh what else is coming up on Tex I know I’m going to write some some basketball stuff here soon Well’s got Tuesday thoughts com in later um I’m going to do an inside the numbers probably tomorrow I want to talk about Feld areas’s pain and I want to
Talk about some of those sha padulla assist numbers compared to last year and basically talk about what I just talked about I shouldn’t give away free stuff on the podcast diservice to our subscribers uh but uh next week since the transfor portal is closing um today was the last day the
Last day you can enter it right and I think the portal officially closes on on the fourth or something like that or whatever uh so next week I’ll do a couple articles on here’s what the roster looks like on each side of the ball as we head into the spring so
Questions like who’s going to play backup center or or do we need another player at this position things like that so that that’s what I’ll do next week once uh once all the portal stuff for this window becomes finalized sounds good will anything else from
You well it’s the new year and we all have our resolutions so uh you know we we basically just show up and plug and chug during football season so the new year is always when I start thinking about what do I want Tech sideline to be
You know what do we want to do this year that’s different so uh once my article is posted today I’ll probably disappear for a while and I’d be working on my deployments and flanking Maneuvers as Al SAR Engen once said that’s one of my favorite Al SAR Engen quotes uh so that
That’s where I’ll be sounds good well I uh I will be at Wake Forest on Sunday or on Thursday for the women I’m not going to Tallahassee but I will be yeah with with a top 15 women’s game on Sunday I’m GNA be here um and uh and yeah uh big
Big big class for the women they’re they’re playing really well right now I think the men have a good chance to get back on the right track and I’m I’m very excited to I will not be paying for it but I’m very excited to keep up with
What with Jack’s coverage I mean this is a this is a big one for Tech wrestling so obviously that a lot of Po not maybe not a lot of portal stuff going on right now because the portal is closing but uh hopefully we’ll have Brent pry on here
Soon and maybe there will be some offseason interviews um and stuff but there’s a lot of a lot of momentum right now I I think so too um I think it’s a it’s one of those things where God I wish next football season would hurry up
And start but at the same time I think this is going to be a very productive off season not me man I’m I’m willing to just hang back and enjoy I agree uh one thing I want to ask you actually Chris before we go you wrote about how good
Brent pry is in the offseason Brent pry Bren pry is undefeated in your words against the off season you you go seven and six this year and now you got the offseason to worry about what are your expectations I thought he didn’t an amazing job last off season coming off a
Three and eight season the portal class he signed his relations with the fans uh High School recruiting turned turned out to be good even coming off a three and eight season so I think there will there’ll be even better reception for him you know when they were up at the
Bowl game he had all the local coaches in at practice um so and that’s an important region for Virginia Tech the the DMV area he just he just understands and grasps things like that one would say pride gets it it whatever it is yeah
He gets it um so when they go back and and do that road tour this offseason with the fans like in Richmond or or when they do their coaching clinics he’s going to get even better reception uh I think this year especially if he carries around the uh common ex exactly so I
Think he basic he didn’t going to last off season with a ton of ammunition yet he did really well and uh some of that was still the new car smell but he got more ammunition this year and uh that that’s a dangerous proposition the offseason
Is is going to be going to be good for tech fans through the years and hopefully the actual seasons can can catch up started to this year yeah this thing he’s doing with doing a better job recruiting the state and bringing players who grew up in the state back in
Out of the portal that’s going to really build you know we’ve said that before that’s a that’s a thing that’s going to just create more and more momentum well that’s a great note to end on and uh I was going to say Andy Andy’s not here well
Chris thank you guys as always Nick Brown thank you behind the scenes appreciate it um happy late birthday to you happy early birthday to you I’m sure we’ll talk next week talk about more basketball uh gvan heer should be back soon so um thank you all for listening I
Know we ran uh a little little bit little bit long but we had a lot to talk about happy it’s a it’s a new year Texline still here still the same go check out um our website texid line.com that’s where that’s our bread and B that’s all of our our editorial content
So for Chris Coleman for will Stewart and Nick Brown I’m David Cunningham this has been episode 339 of the Tex Seline podcast have a great rest of your week enjoy the new Year
13 Comments
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A little worrying that Drones fumbles a little too much. Need to work on that in the spring. Very fun game. Absolutely soaked again yet somehow not as wet as I was during the Purdue game.
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A what point in the season did Tech bring in that former Army coach?
I am optimistic on 2024 but the performance against Louisville still lingers in my mind. We were so outmanned by them and we had already changed our scheme. And then Louisville looses their last 3 games. I think we have some good additions at defense so I wonder if we have the offensive power to beat the top acc teams.
I enjoy the podcast more when Will is there than when he's not. Just say'n.
Thoughts on the 2023 O-line guys?
We had a great time at bowl! Front row and 50 yard line.
Had an awesome banner that should have been on tv.
Fun fact- I wanted to buy a cool VT jacket for cold weather games and just so happened to buy a Jim “Sack Em” Davis jacket that must’ve belonged to him!
I like all the guys, they might need 4 seats for specials?
I took my 13-year-old son to the game. It was his first bowl game. He's heard our stories about the music City Bowl and so he now has his own experience!
When I got out of the car I told my phone to remember where I parked. We left the game after the ceremony, and the phone ended up taking me 4 miles out of the way. Finally we said screw the phone and retraced our tracks. So we were in that rain an hour and 25 minutes longer because of that.
Totally worth it!
Why does David keep saying “tech “ “tech “ “tech “. It’s ANNOYING! Mix it in with “ we” maybe or “us”. ?