Jim Weaver
Thursday night games have been great for Virginia Tech throughout the years. They have played 26 Thursday night games, which is most of any team.
The athletic department made a deal at one point with the University that they would play one Thursday night home game per year. Thursday night games can mess up some things academically, but they were fine with one game.
Weaver anticipates Tech having a home Thursday night game next year. In fact, he's already had conversations with the appropriate people.
Weaver is very happy about how the field held up during Saturday's rainy game.
Weaver is very pleased with how Logan Thomas performed down the stretch of the last two games. He did a great job in that part of those two ball games.
Weaver is all for having a night game this year, but the times and TV are handled by the networks.
Lester Karlin
During the course of the game, Karlin is always watching for equipment malfunctions. But there's generally not much going on.
Tech's uniforms against Alabama were going to be gray jerseys with gray pants, but somebody (that somebody being Chris Coleman of TechSideline.com) leaked the pics of the uniforms a couple of days before the game, so they decided to wear maroon pants instead.
Karlin's favorite uniform combo is maroon on maroon. It doesn't show grass stains as much.
Tech will wear maroon jerseys and Hokie Stone helmets for Georgia Tech. You'll have to tune in to find out what pants they'll wear.
The Hokie Stone helmets will feature the number "430" on the back. That's for the 430 names on the War Memorial who were killed in battle.
Herma's Readers buys Tech's special uniforms. After the game, VT auctions off the uniforms and the money goes to Herma's readers.
There's a secret committee of 3-4 people who decide what uniforms Tech will wear each week.
Mike Gentry
In the last year, Tech has really upgraded their strength and conditioning facilities for Olympic Sports. They also upgraded their equipment in the Merryman Center weight room. It's something they are really proud of.
You have a very limited amount of time to train athletes, with all their classes, study hours, etc. You need to be very efficient. They've been able to do things recently to make themselves more efficient from a time standpoint. That's a big deal.
Strength and conditioning is about mental toughness as well, and Tech has shown mental toughness late in their last two games.
Logan Thomas is a superior leader and a champion. He's bringing the young guys along. Defensively, the Hokies a pretty dialed in. There are some really good players on that unit.
Derrick Hopkins is a great strength athlete. He has the front squat record of 510. That's so much harder than a back squat. Luther Maddy is another impressive defensive tackle in the weight room.
David Wang is the best athlete on the offensive line. He has good power, and he's flexible. Hopefully he can stay healthy.
Wyatt Teller has tremendous potential. He's best suited for offensive line. He can make an impact in the future. Deon Newsome is also impressive. He's very explosive. Woody Baron is another guy.
There are several ways to measure toughness. There's a kind of fistfight toughness, and then there's the toughness where you show up every day ready to work and grind. They are both very important. This summer was tougher in terms of toughness. Gentry really likes the toughness of this team. There are some guys who are banged up who still played 90 plays this past week.
Gregory has become sort of an assistant to Shane Beamer during practice this year.
It's tough having four ACL tears. Cutting in football puts stress on the knee, and it can happen to anybody. It is what it is. It's hard to rehab, make it all the way back, and then have it happen again.
There is also cartilage damage under his kneecap. He may or may not have to go through another surgery. The surgery and rehab are the worst parts.
Gregory is considering getting into coaching. Helping other players is something he would like to do.
Georgia Tech is a tough environment, but it's fun to play in places like that. If you when, it's really fun.
Gregory graduated last December in Human Development. He'll graduate in Sociology this coming December.
The Hokies have to take advantage of their opportunities during the game. Georgia Tech won't give them many chances, but when they get one, they must take advantage and score touchdowns.
That was a fun game on Saturday. Edwards likes playing in sloppy, rainy games like that.
Rakeem Cato was really good at the beginning of the game. He could run, and he could put the ball in the right spot. Later on in the game, the defensive line did a great job getting pressure, and Jack Tyler and Tariq Edwards spied him more.
It's a big transition from going from ECU and Marshall to Georgia Tech. It's going to be a very physical game on Thursday night. The Georgia Tech option is more difficult because sometimes you don't know where the ball is going.
Edwards will play an outside linebacker type role, and he'll have responsibilities against both the quarterback and the pitch man.
The defensive line is playing great. J.R. Collins is very productive. They are all doing a great job getting to the football.
Edwards' father (Bo Campbell played for Virginia Tech). His first game at Tech was back around 1999. He always looked up to Xavier Adibi. That's who he wanted to play like.
Tackling has been a big emphasis this year, because the Hokies didn't tackle well to start last season.
Tech wants to be the #1 defense in the country. They aren't there yet, so they have work to do.
Frank Beamer
It was a strange Saturday. Beamer doesn't think he's ever played a game, graded a video, and then started watching tape on the next game all in the same day.
Offensively, Tech could have had quite a few more yards. They didn't take advantage of all the opportunities they got. They have to do a better job of taking care of the little things.
Ethan Keyserling was put in a tough situation on Saturday. It was raining, and he didn't find out he was playing until shortly before the game.
Tech has to execute better in the redzone. Every play will work if it's blocked properly and the proper routes are run. The Hokies have some young players on offense who have to develop. That's just the way it is.
The block in the back wasn't much, but it could have been called, and it was called. But more times than not, that call is not going to be made. Overall, the officials are doing a good job.
The Hokie Stone helmets mean a lot. The "430" for the names on the War Memorial, and the Hokie Stone, they are the foundation of Virginia Tech.
Tech had already started preparing for Georgia Tech, but watching all the film on Saturday after the Marshall game helped them catch up some. Beamer is glad that Marshall game was at noon. It's going to be a fast week.
Rakeem Cato was very good against Tech. He knew where to go with the ball, and he knew when to run. He's a very heady player, and he's accurate. He's got "it" as a football player.
J.R. Collins had a fantastic game. He scored the most points of any defensive player in Tech history in the Marshall game. He passed Corey Moore's game against Clemson in 1999.
Georgia Tech is very good. They have improved their defense a lot. Their offense and defense have a lot of seniors, and their offensive line is very experienced. They will be tough to beat.
The offense has to be effective against Georgia Tech. They can't have a lot of three and outs because they won't have as many possessions as usual. The offense has to pick up some first downs and score some point.
Monday was Day 3,223 of Virginia Tech's continuous possession of The Commonwealth Cup.