BLACKSBURG, Va. — You couldn't miss the "boo birds" in Lane Stadium. They were loud and clear at the end of the lopsided loss to Pitt last Saturday. With two losing seasons in the last three years and a (3-3) record at present, the heat is on. Head coach Justin Fuente is trying to shield his players from the criticism, "Whether that's the crowd or your cell phone, first of all it's my job to take that. It should not alter anything with them. That's my job."
The Hokies did have that impressive win against then ranked North Carolina and they looked strong against might Notre Dame. Following that with what happened at home against Pitt may have left the Hokies shaken a little bit. Fuente added this, "We've got to find a way to get our guys playing with some confidence."
Confidence can be a fickle thing and on one side of the ball at least, the Hokies are trending in the wrong direction according to Fuente, "We slowly watched over the last several weeks a little shift there in the confidence level. Our defense is increasing and offensively it's decreasing."
Syracuse brings their (3-4) record to Blacksburg this Saturday. Don't be fooled into thinking this will be an easy game. Syracuse may have lost their last three games, but each one was a three point loss.
Either way, Fuente continue to stress one thing in particular to his team, "Every day we wake up, we have complete control over our attitude and our effort."