After a second bye week, it's back to business for the Virginia Tech football team this week when they travel to Florida State on Saturday night. The Hokies are 3-6 and need to win out to become bowl-eligible. It starts with the Seminoles and a familiar quarterback.
Thomas Castellanos is now under center at FSU and landing there through the transfer portal. The last two years, when he was at Boston College, Virginia Tech had success against him. However, Florida State is a better team than BC was, and Hokies interim coach Philip Montgomery explained what makes them so dangerous.
"They're long, they're athletic, they've got great team speed,'' Montgomery said.
That starts with Castellanos, who can hurt you not only with his arm, but his legs. Virginia Tech was able to contain him the last two years, but with different personnel at FSU, it'll be a much taller task to do it this weekend. As for containing Castellanos, Tech linebacker Jaden Keller had praise for him
"He's a dynamic athlete,'' said Keller. "He's a great quarterback. He's a great player. So, whenever you're playing against guys like that, you always have to be ready for tricks and being sure you're accounting for the run. Make sure you're accounting for the pass."
Donavon Greene's lack of catches
Over the last three games, Wake Forest transfer wide receiver Donavon Greene has not had a catch from quarterback Kyron Drones. His last catch was on Oct. 4 against his former team in Blacksburg, where he had two for 52 yards.
""Anytime that you're dealing with receivers in the passing game and all of that, you're always trying to find those guys touches and find opportunities for those guys to go be explosives and make plays'' Montgomery said. "We're still evolving as an offense and as you look at who we're playing and what their strengths and weaknesses are, trying to manufacture ways that our team has a opportunity to go be successful, right?"
It will be interesting to see how Greene is used this weekend against an athletic and fast Florida State defense.