It was a rough outing for the Virginia Military Institute Keydets on Saturday as they were dominated from start to finish in a 59-7 loss at Georgia Tech.
After the game, VMI head coach Danny Rocco met with the media (actually just one member of the media and a VMI sports information director) to discuss the game as his team fell to 0-3 on the season while Georgia Tech bounced back from a loss to improve to 3-1.
Here's what Rocco had to say relating to Georgia Tech in his short presser:
On Georgia Tech's offense showing explosiveness especially in passing game:
"To (Georgia Tech's) credit as the game went on, they started to exploit us a little bit offensively with some of the down the field shots and throws and they were getting behind us. They showed their ability to be explosive which we knew they were and have been in every game we've seen them play."
On being an FCS opponent playing an FBS opponent and how seeing a higher level of competition will help his team down road:
"I think the narrative has got to change just a little bit because I've been doing this for 18 years as an FCS head coach and the way the landscape of the game is moving, it's not just FCS against FBS, it's Georgia Tech and VMI. There are some very unique things there that are uniquely different about how our programs are put together. You can't say the same thing to North Dakota State, you know FCS against FBS. North Dakota State has and will continue to win a lot of those games. So there is just more separation right now with the Power 5 and the direction that all that has gone. But I will say this, I felt like we had a handful of guys that can walk off the field feeling good about how they played, feeling good about getting those kinds of reps and having that kind of a role in a game against this kind of an opponent. What I'm hoping and what I talked in the locker room after the game about is growth. We're a younger team that's really still growing, and that's not uncommon. We're having growing pains obviously. I think a lot of guys today though kind of showed they are capable and more ready to step up to some of these moments as we get into our game next week and then into our conference play. And at the end of the day, our conference play is really the best measurement I think of how you fit in your success."
On what kind of team Georgia Tech after seeing them on film in preparation and then up close in person on Saturday:
"They are very well-coached. They're tough. They're physical. In one man's opinion, I think they're in the perfect style of offense for who they are and what they've got to do. It's one of those offenses that 20 years ago would be a triple option, right. As things have cycled in and out of here at Georgia Tech, they're finding ways to run the ball down field. They're finding ways to get the quarterback to make plays and they're finding ways to get the ball to the perimeter. They've got speed. When you have that kind of speed, sooner or later it's going to take over a football game. I think that's kind of what happened to us today. Early on we were fitting some things pretty well, we were leveraging the ball pretty well, we were staying on top of their routes pretty well. But as the game progressed and they got deeper and deeper into their playbook and we didn't really sub in the first half so to speak, they were able to exploit us. And I think it was more of the speed than anything."
