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Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry is heading into his fourth season with the Hokies. After a 6-7 finish last year, the team is hoping to take a big step forward, and it all starts with a Week 1 game against South Carolina on Aug. 31 in Atlanta.
The Hokies are the underdogs in that game, but Pry is not backing down from the challenge.
“We feel like we have something to prove, and that's been the mindset since the end of the season,” Pry said at the ACC media days on Thursday. “ … South Carolina is a hell of a football team. They've recruited well. They've got a ton of momentum. They've got a dynamic edge guy. They've got an ultra talented quarterback. We've got our hands full.
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"But we're up for the challenge, and we're working every day to be the best team that we can be to go down there and play a good brand of football.”
Pry is confident about his team, as he feels the Hokies are finally becoming the team he’s been working to build.
“We're going to have our hands full, but we've got a good group. We're hungry, and we're competing, and we're deeper. We've got a bunch of transfers, but these transfers have a ton of experience, guys with a lot of reps at other places, and they've really come together nicely.
"It's going to be a dogfight. We're going to give them everything that we've got, that's for sure."
CFB analyst on why Brent Pry needs to win the season opener
South Carolina is predicted to finish fifth in the league and some experts think the Gamecocks could even be in the college football playoff conversation by December. Most of the talk about their season focuses on their SEC schedule and their big rivalry game with Clemson, not Virginia Tech.
However, that opening game could be vital for Brent Pry. ACC Network Roddy Jones on Thursday, explained why this game matters so much for Pry and the Hokies.
“I don’t think there’s a person on this Earth that needs or could use a win Week 1 more than Brent Pry,” Jones said. “He wins that game and I think there will be a collective deep breath, collective sigh for Virginia Tech. Because there’s a lot of consternation now around that program.”
In Week 2, Virginia Tech will face Vanderbilt, another SEC team that beat the Hokies last year. If Brent Pry starts the season 0-2 against those teams, the pressure will only grow.
