Brent Pry on facing South Carolina, Vanderbilt: 'The standards and expectations are to beat those guys'

Virginia Tech will open this upcoming season with a pair of matchups against quality, if not very high-quality, competition from the SEC. Still, Brent Pry doesn’t doubt that the Hokies can handle it because that’s supposed to be their expectation.

Bry spoke about VT’s opening matchups against South Carolina in Atlanta and Vanderbilt in Blacksburg on Thursday while at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte. He thinks both games are a proving ground for their program as they feel, like they have in their past, that they’re to win those games and games like that.

“Yeah, honestly, in general, we feel like we have something to prove and that’s been the mindset since the end of the season,” said Pry. “The opportunity to play South Carolina, to play Vanderbilt at night in Lane Stadium? Again, that’s why these guys come to Virginia Tech. That’s why I wanted to be back. And, the standards and expectations are to beat those guys, to win those games, like Tech did for a bunch of years.”

The matchup with South Carolina is part of the Aflac Kickoff on August 31st for the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend. The other with Vanderbilt is then the second game of a home-and-home after the Commodores won 4-27 in overtime over the Hokies in last year’s season opener in Nashville. That’s two games against two teams from the Southeastern Conference who were good to great in 2024 and should be again to their extents in 2025.

“It’s challenging. South Carolina is a hell of a football team,” said Pry. “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 got our hands full but we’re up for the challenge, And, you know, we’re working every day to be the best team we can be to go down there and play a good brand of football.”

“And then, you know, Vanderbilt? Great respect for Clark Lea. I know Clark. He’s done a tremendous job. I coached at Vanderbilt three years. I know the challenges in that place. He’s done a tremendous job,” Pry continued. “They’ll bring a really good football team in here, and they got their own quarterback that’s awful talented.”

That said, Pry believes that this team for the Hokies can more than hang with the Gamecocks and Commodores. That’s because, after three years of his tenure, Virginia Tech looks like he has always thought they could with him as head coach.

“I like our group, I like our quarterback, I like our guys, I like the direction we’re going,” said Pry. “This team right now is the closest to the vision I had for Virginia Tech Football, for what I want us to be and who I want us to be. We’re closer than we’ve ever been.”

Opening the season with SEC matchups in each of your first two could be a quick start at 0-2 for a lot of teams. That isn’t what Virginia Tech is expecting, though, by the time they come out of those games against South Carolina and Vanderbilt.