Reggie Virgil's confidence after adversity
After a tough loss to Arizona State last Saturday, Texas Tech WR Reggie Virgil is looking to bounce back in their upcoming game against Oklahoma State. He had seven receptions for 50 yards including an important 12 yard touchdown to give the Red Raiders the lead late in the 4th quarter. This was Virgil’s biggest takeaway from that game
“I really hate to lose, but I have never been on a team that has started the season this good in the first place. So you just have to look at it positively.
Life isn’t always gonna go your way, we all think we should be undefeated right now but it’s just that you have to take the losses and keep your head up because when we get another situation like that, we will be prepared.“
Virgil has confidence in the young QB
Will Hammond started off slow during saturday’s performance, but Virgil is still confident in Hammond’s ability to play quarterback. He expressed how Hammond just needs confidence in the pocket and to trust himself and his teammates.
“When I was young I was taught to just work harder, and with Will that’s all he needs is confidence because confidence is important.
So after our meetings on Monday’s I get reps in with him and we work on things that their defense does consistently and I just tell him to not act like I am covered and throw it to the spot, you know?”
The Red Raiders can deliver when it matters
Even though the game didn’t end how they wanted it to, the Red Raiders can still make big things happen in a short amount of time to keep it close. Virgil says that trust is the key when time isn’t on your side.
“We really just trusted our guys and went out there and executed the plays that we were given. We might not have done that all game, but when we had the opportunity, we made it count.”
The importance of a balanced offense
When asked about the potential for the Red Raider offense, Virgil didn’t hesitate. Instead of putting a lot of pressure on one guy to make a play, he said the coaches do their best to help out the entire team.
“I think Coach (Mack) Leftwich does a great job, he doesn’t wanna put pressure on all the young guys. He is trying to help out Hammond and not make him throw 40 times a game but also run the ball and do ‘confidence building’ passes.”
How Virgil moves onto this week against Oklahoma State
The Texas Tech wide receiver expressed that the veterans are stepping up when it matters, taking the loss in stride and moving onto this weekend. The focus has been to keep moving forward and maintain a stable mindset.
“We have a lot of veteran players that are staying positive and not pointing the finger. We just got done with film yesterday and from now on we are going to try our best to stay positive and go get another one”.
