Brent Pry on early deficit vs. Florida State: Settle down, play like we're capable

The Virginia Tech Hokies dug themselves an early hole on Saturday afternoon against the heavily favored Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee. The Seminoles jumped all over the Hokies early, leading 22-0 late in the first quarter.

Following his team’s sluggish start, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry spoke with ESPN’s Quint Kessenich about his message to his players.

Brent Pry on his team coming back vs. Florida State

“Yeah, I think first of all, we’re getting them in the third and long defensively. We’ve got to get off the field there. We had some opportunities to stop a drive. Then we have a missed opportunity for a turnover here in the red zone. We drop an interception,” Pry said. “We’ve gotta make those kind of plays against a team like this. And offensively, we’ve got to get some things going. Haven’t had any positive plays. Got to get some drives started. Get on schedule. Settle down and let’s play like we’re capable.”

Luckily for Pry, the Virginia Tech offense finally started to show some signs of life in the second quarter, quarterback Kyron Drones had some nice runs to get the Hokies in position to kick a field goal and cut the score to 22-3 with 9:37 remaining in the first half.

Then the Hokies got two plays from running back Bhayshul Tuten, he had a five-yard touchdown run. His 99-yard kickoff return at the beginning of the third quarter was easily the play of the game. The kick return for touchdown cut the Florida State lead to 22-17 early in the third quarter. Surely, many FSU fans started to feel some anxiety at that point, but the Seminoles would pull away in the second half, thanks to their running game, which Virginia Tech could simply find no answer for.

Florida State rolled up 282 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The bulk of those yards were churned out by FSU running back Trey Benson. He ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a career-best performance.

Virginia Tech dual threat quarterback Kyron Drones was a bright spot for the Hokies. He ran for 80 rushing yards and made several plays with his legs throughout the night.

Florida State also got two touchdown catches from receiver Johnny Wilson, who exited the game in the third quarter due to an injury.

Virginia Tech moved to 2-4 and 1-1 in the ACC. Florida State moved to 5-0 and 3-0 in the ACC.