Best Virginia Tech quotes after a less than impressive win over Marshall

One week after losing in overtime to Vanderbilt, 34-27, the Virginia Tech football team was looking for a bounce-back effort against Marshall in their home opener at Lane Stadium Saturday. In the end, the Hokies got the win, but it wasn't as impressive as fans had hoped it would, 31-14.

However, a win is a win and the Hokies will take their 1-1 record to Old Dominion next Saturday night looking to get above .500 before hosting a very tough Rutgers team in two weeks before ACC play begins on Sept. 27 at Miami.

After the Hokies outscored the Thundering Hurd, 21-7, in the second half Saturday, here are some of the quotes from Virginia Tech.

Brent Pry says that they got Bhayshul Tuten's "A" game

One consistency all game was Bhayshul Tuten. He finished the game 120 yards on the ground on 22 carries and a touchdown in the third quarter on fourth down to give the Hokies a 17-7 lead. He was taken off of kick returns to save his body for running the ball, which is where he is needed the most.

"We got his 'A' game today,'' said Pry of Tuten.

Brent Pry on the Hokies offensive first drive of the second half

"We weren't good on third down in the first half, but I thought the ability to run the ball and make that statement ... That set the tone for the half."

Not only were they not good on third down in the first half, but they were just downright not good overall. They were 1-for-9 on third downs and their one was only because of a nice catch by Benji Gosnell. Yes, that drive to begin the second half was big and a statement, just like last week at Vanderbilt, but they need to avoid these first-half duds.

Brent Pry on how well his defense played compared to a week ago

Last week, Diego Pavia was unstoppable for the Hokies' defense, but this week, mainly on third down, they got off the field, holding Marshall to 5-for-17 on third downs. They were very good in the first half with the only touchdown set up by a blocked punt deep in Tech territory in the second quarter.

“Thank goodness the defense was playing really well,” Pry said. “They really kept the game where it was.”

Bhayshul Tuten on then game plan against Marshall in the second half

“We wanted to make them stop us, and I think that’s what we did in the second half,” Tuten said. “It surely worked. I got rolling, Kyron got rolling, and Mal (Malachi Thomas) got rolling, and it was definitely needed.”

That was a big difference in the second half, running the football. Again, not to beat a dead horse, but why can't they do that in the first half as well? Carry on.

Again, a win is a win, but there are a lot of areas that need to be cleaned up going forward and next weekend at ODU is not going to be easy if they continue to play like this.