Despite Novel Setting, Hokies Stress Consistency for the Battle at Bristol

Though they're headed into a game that's set to be the biggest in college football history, Justin Fuente and the rest of the Hokies stubbornly insist that there's nothing much different at all about this week's matchup against Tennessee.

"At the end of the day, football is football," Sam Rogers said.

No matter who was at the podium Monday, the message stayed consistent.

"I don't know if you can control the awe other than focus on the task at hand," Justin Fuente said. "To me, that's the biggest thing. It's the same for both teams. Us keeping focused on understanding that it's just a different stage. It's still a game. The stage shouldn't determine the way we prepare or the way we perform. We should prepare the same way that we prepared last week and we should do the same things. We should act the same way.

"It's still one football game and the stage shouldn't determine our behavior. That being said, obviously it's going to be pretty cool. A lot of people there. What it's exactly going to look like, I'm not really sure. I'm confident that we've got a group that wants to play well and will listen to how to play well in order to give ourselves a chance."

Fuente admitted that the team will alter its schedule slightly for ballyhooed Battle at Bristol — the Hokies will head down on Friday for a walkthrough of the stadium to "let our coaches get a handle on the press box" and help the squad acclimate to the outsized conditions — but otherwise, he feels little will change about the team's preparation as Tech moves from facing an FCS team to a highly ranked SEC opponent.

But if the game should feel a bit more momentous to anyone on the team, DT Woody Baron is a strong candidate, given his Nashville roots.

Indeed, he says he's stayed close with a pair of former high school teammates that suit up for the Volunteers these days, including DE Derek Barnett and DB Rashaan Gaulden.

Those stakes aside, he too repeated the old refrain: "football is football."

"You know, I've been doing this thing a long time," Baron said. "Myself, being from Tennessee, I know a lot of people on the sideline for the Vols. But at the end of the day when this game ends, it's just going to count as one more game; whether it's in the win column or the lose column. It's going to be just as significant as any other game on the schedule."

Odds and Ends

-If the Hokies aren't changing much about their preparation to face UT, the same goes for their depth chart.

Of note, Colt Pettit remains the top man at left guard over Wyatt Teller, Rogers stays the nominal starting running back, and cornerback Adonis Alexander is listed as the starter on the right side, after serving his one-game suspension.

But, especially in light of Greg Stroman's impressive performance against Liberty, Fuente noted that the coaches haven't decided who will start just yet.

-Fuente reiterated that Jerod Evans had some bright spots mixed in with some bad play. He touched on a long third down, when Evans tucked the ball and ran, as a "headsy" play.

-Several players talked about the jet sweep and it's prevalence in Fuente's system. Ford said that late-transfer Henri Murphy is "probably one of, if not the fastest" player on the team and is a good fit for that role.

-The running back by committee is here to stay, with both Fuente and Rogers agreeing that the offense is designed to get the ball into as many hands as possible. Fuente expects Marshawn Williams to figure into the mix when he returns from injury (and he added that the team won't have him for "another week") but he cautioned that he still doesn't see any "40-carry" guys on the roster.

Justin Fuente

OPENING STATEMENT:

"Before we begin, I just want to touch on a couple things. I want to take just a couple of seconds to thank everybody that came out on Saturday. Beautiful day, beautiful atmosphere. It was a lot of fun. Obviously there's some good and some bad out there on our part. Some great teaching went on yesterday off of the game film. It's time for us to turn our attention to Tennessee. Very talented football team and obviously a unique venue. Great reward for both sets of fan bases. In my opinion, you get a chance to go and celebrate college football and have a good time in a unique venue with an obviously large crowd. We'll have our hands full with getting prepared for Tennessee in all three phases of the game. They're a very talented, well-coached football team and has high aspirations for the season."

ON HOW HE FEELS ABOUT JEROD EVANS AFTER LOOKING AT THE LIBERTY TAPE:

"A little bit of what I alluded to (after the game). Made some nice plays out there. There was a third and long there where they dropped eight (defenders) and he tucked it and got about 10 yards and ended up having a chance to kick a field goal. I thought that was a headsy play. Made some good throws in tight coverage. Both of those balls to Bucky (Hodges) (and) a couple balls to Isaiah (Ford). But also, we left plenty of plays out there. At every position, not just Jerod. Evaluating Jerod's game, he knows that. He missed a few things in there. We have to take care of the football. That's the first thing that's not pleasing. Some good and some bad. Probably about like every single position on the offensive side. Did a few good things, but by-and-large just not consistent."

ON HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT HE THINKS THE TEAM WILL MAKE THIS WEEK:

"You could improve a lot and maybe not be able to tell when you take a step up like we're going to take a step. That's just the facts. We're gonna go play, a tremendous amount of respect for Liberty and what they've done in their program, but the team we're gonna play on Saturday is much more talented. The challenge for us is still to continue to improve and for us to measure those things internally and see if we get those things. We have another level that we can reach. I don't know whether it's the first game or what. I think it's still figuring out exactly who can do what. We play a bunch of guys and part of that's an evaluation game, too, in terms of how many guys can we or can't we play. Some of it I would attribute to the first game, some of it I would attribute to guys playing for the first time period. Hopefully we can make strides."

ON TENNESSEE'S OFFENSE:

"Appalachian State did a great job defensively. They played a 50 defense and they've some really good football players over there. I'm sure it wasn't the performance that Tennessee wanted to have offensively. I'm sure they'll get those things corrected and be ready to go on Saturday. It's up to us to worry about ourselves and make sure we're ready to play. They've got fine coaches over there and some fine athletes. I'm sure they'll get the corrections made that they need corrected."

ON HOW HIS RUNNING BACK ROTATION WILL LOOK THIS SEASON:

"When you think about it, we don't have Marshawn (Williams). Marshawn had a good camp. So yeah, it's not defined. We won't have him for another week. He's certainly in the mix to get in there. We'll go the first two games without him. Still got Shai (McKenzie) recovering from a knee injury. We've got all the different things there. We have a good handle on where we're at right now with what we've got. I just don't see one guy carrying it 40 times a game. I just don't see that happening. We'll continue to do (running back) by committee."

ON HOW MUCH CROSSOVER THERE IS FROM LIBERTY TO TENNESSEE:

"It's fairly different. There won't be a tremendous amount of carryover. The fact that they line up in some one-back sets, both teams do offensively. The fact they both play base four down defensively. That's about the extent of the carryover there."

ON ADONIS ALEXANDER BEING LISTED AS A STARTER ON THE NEW DEPTH CHART:

"I'm not positive he's going to start. We haven't had our staff meeting today. We just wanted to make sure we got him on there so nobody thought he wasn't going to be out, or was going to be out. He's done everything we've asked him to do in camp. Did well in summer school and those sorts of things to earn another shot."

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BOB SHOOP:

"I don't know him. He's very well respected throughout our profession. He's done a good job everywhere he's been. His schemes are sound. He's got good players to go with those good schemes. There's a reason they only gave up 13 points last week. They're pretty darn good."

Isaiah Ford

ON IF HE'S WATCHED FILM ON TENNESSEE:

"I watched a couple things this morning. I watched the Appy St. game, still have a little more of them to go. They're talented on defense. They fly around and are physical. They do a number of different things on defense by showing us looks and disguising things like that. So we'll have to be ready."

ON IF HE WATCHES FILM ON HIS OWN TIME:

"Usually I just go into our meeting room and watch it by myself."

ON IF HE LOOKS AT CERTAIN GUYS ON THE TENNESSEE DEFENSE WHEN HE WATCHES FILM:

"It's exciting. Your competitive nature wants you to play against the best because they bring the best out of you. I've watched the whole secondary, try to look for any type of small details or advantages that I can gain or take away from that."

ON HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT SATURDAY'S GAME:

"I'm curious to see how the field will be and how far the stands and everything will be from the field. I'm not really worried about anything. At the end of the day, it's still a football game. Gotta go out there and play football."

ON THE CROWD AT BRISTOL:

"It's exciting. I think at the end of the day, we have to go out and execute. We've gotta play well; no matter if there's five people in the stands or five million people in the stands."

ON THE AWE FACTOR OF BRISTOL:

"I think maybe after the game or when we get there. Maybe it will sink in then. As far as now, not really worried about that. We're just trying to get a good gameplan and start executing."

ON IF THERE ARE ANY NASCAR FANS ON THE TEAM:

"I'm not even sure, to be honest."

ON WHO CAN FIT THE JET SWEEPS IN THE NEW OFFENSE:

"I think we have a group of receivers that can all run the jet sweeps and get to the outside and kind of get that speed around the edge of the defense. Henri Murphy is probably one of, if not the fastest dudes on the team. Get the ball in his hands in space and it's gonna help us out a lot."

ON IF THE ATTITUDE IN THE LOCKER ROOM CHANGED AFTER THE TENNESSEE GAME THURSDAY:

"Not at all. We know that winning football games is a privilege. They don't come easy at all. Anytime you win a game in college football it's something to be proud of. Whether that's winning by a field goal or winning by 40 points. We don't take any game for granted. We know that we have to go out and execute just like they do."

ON WEARING THE HOKIE STONE JERSEY:

"I'm excited. I'm excited about it. I was shocked when I first saw it but I can't wait to put it on. It's gonna be fun."

Woody Baron

ON IF HE HAS ANY CLOSE FRIENDS AT TENNESSEE:

"I got a couple former teammates that play. My buddy Rashaan Gaulden plays in the secondary. Derek Barnett plays defensive end that I know really well. I know a couple guys on offense as well that I played against that I have friendships with."

ON IF HE STAYS IN TOUCH WITH THEM IN THE SEASON:

"Not so much during the season. I talk to Derek periodically throughout the summer. Just when I'm going home, I pass through Knoxville. If he needs a ride or something, I'll give it to him. Coming back if I need a place to crash, I'll hit him up. Other than that, not a ton during the season."

ON PLAYING IN A GAME WITH TWO HIGHLY TOUTED DEFENSIVE COACHES:

"I've not really put a whole lot of thought into that. I'm really just trying to go out here and practice the best I can to put us in a situation to succeed come Saturday."

ON HIS MATCHUP WITH THE OFFENSIVE LINE OF TENNESSEE:

"I don't look forward to this one as an offensive/defensive matchup anymore than I do Liberty or I will Boston College. I saw two really good teams play each other on film earlier this morning when I watched it. I saw it live on Thursday when they played. Other than that, I'm just approaching it the same way as I do every other game."

ON IF HE THINKS TENNESSEE HELD SOME BACK:

"I wasn't there. I wasn't on the field. The only one that knows if they were holding anything back would be the players themselves. Like I said, what I saw on film was two very good teams going at each other and playing very hard. That's what I saw."

ON HIS PERFORMANCE AGAINST LIBERTY:

"I think we played good enough to get the job done on Saturday. And that's the most important part of the game. There's definitely a ton of room for improvement. We're just gonna try to take a step forward this week in practice."

ON IF ANY TEAMMATES ARE FANS OF NASCAR:

"I think one of my teammates is from the Bristol, Casey Harman. I'm not sure, but he said he's been to a few races. I went by there one time and the gates were unlocked so I just kind of invited myself in. I just saw a huge stadium. I mean, it was unfathomably huge. There was a press box that went all the way around on the top."

ON WHEN HE SAW THE TRACK:

"Last spring or summer. I'm not sure."

ON HOW SMALL THE FIELD WILL BE COMPARED TO THE STADIUM:

"Yeah. They had actually outlined the football field in (paint) on the asphalt. It was pretty tiny in comparison to the track that went around and then the actual stands themselves."

ON IF THEY SHOULD SELL BINOCULARS:

"They might need binoculars. It's the biggest stadium I've been to."

ON BEING A PART OF THE LARGEST FOOTBALL CROWD IN HISTORY:

"Anytime you can put that many people, not only in a football game or any sporting event, it's going to be special. I think it's a great reward for two sets of wonderful fans at both Tennessee and Virginia Tech. For us, we're just trying to treat it as best we can as another football game."

ON IF HE LIKES TENNESSEE FANS:

"I grew up three hours away, so all the Tennessee fans I know personally are my best friends. I love them. But as a group, I can't say."

ON KEEPING FOCUSED ON THE GAME AND NOT THE STAGE:

"That's why we practice throughout the week. I think we do a great job, here, just of simulating loud crowd noise. We have music going on indoors to where you can barely hear the person next to you. Throughout the week, we're going to get our feet wet a little bit in terms of the noise and the environment. When you get there, you get to the first play then you're technique comes back and you realize this is the same thing you've been doing in practice. It's just another game."

ON THE MUSIC SELECTION:

"You know, it's pretty diverse music. We have some stuff from every different genre. It's pretty nice."

Sam Rogers

ON THE BATTLE AT BRISTOL:

"It's gonna be an awesome experience. I can't wait to get out there. Obviously it's being hyped up as the biggest college football game in history. But like these guys have already said, we've got to take it just like any other game. I feel like we wouldn't be a good team if we prepared differently for different games. We have to prepare with the same focus no matter who we're playing. Liberty at home or playing Tennessee at the Battle at Bristol, we gotta prepare the exact same way. At the end of the day, football is football. Just gotta do our thing."

ON IF HE'S EVER BEEN TO BRISTOL:

"I have not been there."

ON IF HE KNOWS ANYONE WHO IS A BIG NASCAR FAN:

"I don't know anyone, honestly. Our equipment guys love the NASCAR stuff. I remember back a while ago, they all got back from a race pretty late. But, honestly, me and my friends don't really talk about NASCAR too much."

ON THE STEP UP FROM AN FCS TEAM TO A TOP 10 TEAM:

"I think you still have to prepare the exact same way. It's still a football game. Any team can show up on any day. Liberty or Tennessee, you have to prepare the exact same way. I think it was nice being able to come out here against Liberty and get our feet wet and just understand what we need to work on. It's a great starting point. We can't make some of the same mistakes we did this past weekend against Tennessee. They're gonna take advantage of those. We just gotta prepare the same way but the stakes are a little higher."

ON IF HE WAS SURPRISED LIBERTY TRIED TO STOP THE RUN GAME:

"We prepare for anything. I wouldn't say it's surprising. You just gotta take what the defense gives you. They brought people in and stacked the box a little bit, but I still think we didn't run the ball as well as we could, even with that. We should have ran the ball better but we'll get better and we'll be alright."

ON THE JET SWEEPS AND HOW HENRI MURPHY FITS INTO THAT PLAY:

"He's doing great. All the young guys are doing really well at wide receiver. We're gonna need everyone we can, especially as the season goes on. We're gonna need a lot of young guys to step up and help us out. As far as getting the ball on the perimeter, that's a big part of what Coach Fuente likes to do. Get the ball to the perimeter. For one, it's just going to wear a defense out running side to side like that. We can use it to our advantage to get the ball on the edge like that."

ON THE RUNNING BACK ROTATION:

"Coach Fuente's told us that he's going to get a bunch of guys involved and a bunch of guys are going to get a chance to carry the ball. I don't really know how they're going to call the game. That's up to them. We just gotta run the play and execute it. We know that a lot of people have chances in this offense. Makes it a lot of fun."

ON IF HE CARES WHO STARTS ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE:

"I like whoever's out there. It's fun having Wyatt (Teller) out there. It's fun having Colt (Pettit) out there. Whoever's out there, I love all my teammates and how they're going to do a great job when they're out there."

Jerry Caldwell, Bristol Motor Speedway General Manager

STATEMENT ON SATURDAY'S BATTLE AT BRISTOL:

"We certainly are honored to be here with you guys today. Virginia Tech has been a tremendous partner in this process. It's a bit surreal to be at this point because this has been twenty years in the making, really. Very intensely for three years, but twenty years of conversation. Game week is here. We're used to saying race week is here, but now we can say game week is here. The place looks great. It's really coming together nicely. We're gonna get started down there on Friday with our Kenny Chesney concert. That's really when the action picks up at the racetrack. And then on Saturday, we're gonna have a full day. Parking lots will open at 7 am., College GameDay will start at 9 a.m. and go until noon, and then concerts after that with Sam Hunt and many others performing. The team walks leading into the football game. The kickoff is around 8:15 or right after that. We're excited to host everyone for the largest college football game in history. Appreciate your support. Looking forward to a great week. It's going to be a lot of fun. We encourage fans to come early (and) be patient when they come. There's gonna be a lot of people here. We're gonna set that attendance record. Come join us and it's going to be a great time. Looking forward to it."

ON IF HE HAS A GAME PREDICTION:

"No. I've told people this is like having two kids play on opposite teams in a little league game. I'm just pulling for a great game. I know it's going to be. It's going to be exciting. Both teams, there's a lot of enthusiasm around both situations."