The Virginia Tech football team dropped a 34-17 decision to 13th-ranked Miami on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium in their final home game of 2025. It was also the final home as interim head coach Philip Montgomery, who took over for Brent Pry after a Week 3 loss to Old Dominion.
It was also a big weekend in terms of recruits being on campus for new head coach James Franklin, who is working hard in his first week in Blacksburg to turn things around as soon as next. As for Saturday's game, here are some of the best Montgomery quotes after a loss to the Hurricanes.
Top quotes from Virginia Tech football coach Philip Montgomery after Miami loss
- "He screwed up."
Let's just get the obvious one out of the way right away. Kyron Drones dropped back in the third quarter on third and long and was chased out of the pocket. As he was being tackled and before he was down, an official blew a whistle after Drones threw the ball up for grabs and was caught by Ayden Greene, who picked up a first down.
The down was replayed, and Drones was sacked, which forced a punt. Montgomery said that the officials apologized to him, but it was just another clown show for the ACC officials. It wouldn't have changed the outcome, but still, be better.
- "We'll wait and see."
Pop Watson replaced Drones late in the game on a fourth down when the veteran was banged up. He threw a nice fourth-down ball to Greene for a first down and scored on a touchdown run to cap off the drive. It got people thinking, could he play against Virginia next week?
Last year, he had a ton of success in leading Virginia Tech to a win to become bowl-eligible. There is literally nothing to lose by at least giving him some plays and seeing what happens.
- "Just the vision, the feel, getting used to the speed of the game. All of those things are factors in it, but (Overton) is progressing well and doing some electric things for us."
Montgomery is talking about freshman running back Jeffrey Overton, Jr., who had 69 yards on seven carries and a 38-yard touchdown run. Since coming back from an injury, he has been a bright spot for the Hokies and someone who should be at the top of Franklin's list of players to try and retain for next year.
- "They got a lot of talented guys over there. They got a quarterback that has played a lot of college football, been a starter, gone against a lot of good defenses. They got a lot of weapons. So, our guys, I thought, did a really nice job of continuing to try to get guys on the ground, try to limit some of the explosive plays. They've been explosive all year. I don't think that's any different."
Miami racked up 335 yards of total offense and scored on each possession in the first half. They are an explosive offense and showed that against the Hokies. The fact that a depleted defense only gave up 34 points was an impressive feat in itself.
- "Nah, he's a special player.''
Miami's special player, Malachi Toney, had 12 catches for 146 yards and was tough for the Hokies to defend. Sometimes special players are going to make plays, and that's what Toney did. It also helped to have Carson Beck throwing the ball to him.