Malik Washington, Daniel Wingate on Virginia Tech, week three improvements, fans

17 hours ago

8 min read

Everything that quarterback Malik Washington and linebacker Daniel Wingate said ahead of the matchup vs. Virginia Tech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UywDARfusmk

Malik Washington on WR Chris Durr

“He brings an explosiveness, definitely. As you see, the ball in his hands, being able to make some of the flashy plays, but also making routine plays too. Just making guys in this open space. He brings extra elements where maybe he finds some hitting yardage”

Washington on what stuck out about the week two win

“Just as many people touched the football. Really, we got a lot of guys involved in offense that game. Parts of what coach did, game planning for them, and just people being willing to accept their role in the team. Of course, everybody wants ten catches, everybody wants a bunch of targets, but guys were happy that we won as a team and happy for their brothers. That was the biggest thing to me.”

Washington on whether week two was validating

“No because I don’t really pay attention to it, to be honest. It’s more about me and how I’m feeling about myself and then the first game, just judging myself and then going into the next game continuing that. Just grading myself on how I play, not so much about other people.”

Washington on UConn being audit

“You approach it each week the same. You want to have your preparation for the week and your execution for the week. Try to be at as high as a level as possible each week. You don't try to upgrade it for this team or downgrade it for that team. You kind of just attack it the same way, so you have a kind of structure to yourself.”

Washington on what to improve in week three

“Just efficiency, really, all around the pass game, the run game. Make sure we limit any errors we have as a team, and keep improving week to week.”

Wingate on week three improvements

“Just the little things with our front end, the [defensive] line, just being able to cage the quarterback a little bit better. We allowed UConn to escape the pocket a little bit and scramble, and that's something that we want to be able to fix. And just limiting the explosives we gave a few explosives last week, but we got in the film, we corrected it, and we're ready to make the correction this week.

Wingate on VT QB Ethan Grunkemeyer

“He plays the system very well at Virginia Tech. He's able to get you know their guys the ball and operate their offense the right way. And I think it'll be a good challenge for us. I think we just got to be on our P’s and Q’s and play our game that we play and it should be a good outcome."

Washington on VT’s front seven

“We really, for them up front, you know, they're a base team. They do what they do. They do it well, as you saw against Old Dominion. But for us up front, it's no different challenge. We're going to stick to our rules when we know. We'll block things accordingly, and if new things pop up in the game, we'll adjust on the fly and continue from there.”

“I wouldn't even say it's a counter. Really, each week, you kind of talk about nameless, faceless opponents. So it's not about who you're playing or what they're doing. It's all about you and yourself and your scheme and your execution-that will help you win the game. It's not so much about what the other team is doing.”

Wingate on VT TE Luke Reynolds

“He's doing well by just doing his job. They put him in a lot of positions. They flex him out. Sometimes they keep him in the core, and you know he's a receiving option for them. He's a receiving threat, so he does a lot well for them. And we just got to be able to do our job and make sure that we do the right things to make sure that we limit some of that."

Washington on reaction to VT DB’s comments

“I’m ready to play football. That’s all I’ve got.”

Wingate on Malik’s criticism

“I mean, we hear about it sure, but we don't pay no attention to it. That's outside knowing that we don't really care for and we're focused about what we're doing and what we have to do within our program, and like I said it's just a nameless basis opponent at the end of the day.”

Washington on the RB room

“The same thing that we look for out of all our players – high effort, high execution, high energy, really, because you're willing to do whatever it is that can cause the team to win.”

Washington on emotions ahead of VT

“The same emotions that we had going into week one and week two. Really, just kind of talked about it being nameless, faceless opponents, nameless based objects. It's not so much about damage, but it's about us and what we do”

Wingate on playing familiar faces

“It's a little different, but not too crazy because we all kind of played each other in the same area. We're all familiar with each other's game, with who we are so it's not [anything] too different for. It's just like playing each other when he was in high school. And Gabe [Williams], that's my guy, and it's been a little bit leading up to it here and there but it's not too much conversation from this point on. It's just kind of game vision, tunnel vision, and like I said, it's outside noise that we don't have to be worried about.”

Wingate on Zion Elee

“Man, we just hyped him up because I mean it was a great play that was made. He's coming along. He's been able to just work day in and day out, and get better each day, and that's something that we're going to need from him, and that we've been seeing in him. So we're just really excited that he's continuing to work and get it all together.”

Washington on student section, fans

“Same energy that they brought the first week really. They showed up. They were loud, they were proud. They were rooting for us. Same thing. Energy kind of helps us as a team. We're looking to find it somewhere. We know we can always trust them.”

Wingate on sellout crowd

“The locker room is super amped about it. First sellout crowd of the year, just ready to feel that atmosphere, feel the fans out there. Just packing out the shell. It's very exciting, and we're really excited to approach this week just like that.”

Wingate on whether this game feels different with local rival

“Yeah, it's a little different having those fans come out for sure, and just you know the whole DMV aspect of it all. But you know, it's still the same to us. It's no different [than] any other sellout, any other game, and we're just excited to have this opportunity to play them.”

Washington on the roster familiarity

“Yeah, a little bit. Just there are people that we know now. Just guys that we played against before, may know some of their tendencies. But people are way different now than they were in high school. Players are a lot smarter, a lot bigger, stronger, faster, all areas of the game. So it's really less of like a X and O scout, more just like a personality scout on who they are as people.”

Washington on VT QB Bryce Baker

“Me and Bryce talked a little bit. When he got in the portal and decided he was going to tech, you know, I congratulated him and all that stuff. We keep up. We're two faith-based young men, so we talk about that sometimes but definitely looking forward to seeing what I feel.”

Washington on Isaiah Wright

“Yeah, it's been huge, really, especially off the field. His leadership, his presence that he brings. He's an experienced player. He's played a lot of football in the day, so he brings kind of that veteran leadership. He's seen a lot of situations and he can help the younger guys a lot with stuff that they're going through.”

Wingate on whether they’re playing for something more

“I mean, in a way, you could say that, yeah. But we kind of try to approach each week the same way – nameless, faceless opponents. Just trying to attack the week, 1-0, trying to get better each week, and it's just like any other week.”

Washington on staying calm and collected

“All of them really are making plays when their number is called. That just builds trust, confidence in me when I may not give them the throw, but they can go out there and make a play, and we come back. We just build that each more and more throughout practice. Just reps together and it shows on Saturday.”

Wingate on P4 teams the rest of the way

“Yeah, for sure. It was something that was talked about at the end of the season after Michigan State, just talking less and doing more, just putting in the work, being able to finish the fourth quarters, and just doing our jobs. That's something that has been preached about from day one. So just continue to preach that and continue to remember that we just got to finish the fourth quarters and do what we got to do, and those games can be ours.”

Washington on being named to Jason Witten College Man of Year Watch List

“It means a whole bunch really. Part of the reason I stay around this community is to help this community in every single way that I can. And to see stuff like that shows that I'm taking the right steps in order to help my community as much as possible.”

Wingate on preparing for first P4 team

“just to be level-headed. There's going to be ups and downs throughout the game. But if we stay on the same level, if we keep the same emotion, it won’t deter us from our game and how we play. Just playing our game, playing fast, playing physical, playing relentless. We do those things, and we stay level-headed and don't worry about the good or the bad, we'll be just fine.”

Washington on staying level headed

“Understanding how fast it can be taken away. The sport you play is a violent sport, it's a physical sport, and injuries happen over time. I understand that one day you could be on top of the world feeling amazing, the next you cannot be playing a game you love anymore for something that might be out of your control really. So I kind of just keep that in the back of my mind at all times. No matter how good things get, how bad things get, I'm just blessed and grateful to be able to play this game.”

Wingate on whether he plays against MD in NCAAF

“Nah, I don't do nothing like that. I don't really play the game too crazy during the season. I would say. I don't know. I don't do that effort. I kind of just like to focus on what we got to do, watch film, lock myself in mentally, and just focus on what we got to get victory.”

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