by Staff Report @TheESP_
Virginia locked up their trip the ACC Championship game on Friday with a win over rival Virginia Tech. On Monday, a teleconference was held for both head coaches and three players from each team separately.
The players that represented the Cavaliers were Bryce Perkins, Eli Hanback, and Charles Snowden. Here is some of what they had to say...
BRYCE PERKINS
Q - Defensively, Clemson's numbers are off the charts. What is it, if you've seen them, that makes Clemson so good on that side of the ball?
"They're great at causing havoc, getting pressure. One way or another, they'll blitz this side and then they'll blitz this side. It's always making teams uncomfortable, making quarterbacks uncomfortable in the backfield, turnovers like that. They do a great job of causing havoc."
"We're going to have to come in prepared and ready for it. This week is going to be definitely important as far as game planning and film watching to make sure we're in the best situation to handle different and various types of pressures that they bring."
Q - Bronco talked about how he's grown this program incrementally step by step. Right now the chance to play Clemson, the championship game, possibly an Orange Bowl, do you feel maybe you're cheating ahead a little and skipping a step, this program got further this year than people were expecting?
"I mean, not at all. We always talk about unbroken growth in this program. Just think about last year, how close we were to actually winning the ACC and beating Tech. We felt we had the talent and the will last year. We just had to keep it going, keep improving from the mistakes from last year to this year."
"It wasn't perfect this year. We had a couple ugly losses. The way we fought back, the way that we were resilient, is right on line with the program's growth and the program's culture that coach built these past years that he was here."
Q - Among the injuries you have overcome, the neck, knee and thumb, where did tonsillitis rank in your list of health challenges?
"It was up there. I mean, definitely not as severe as the neck and the knee. It definitely posed challenges last week and earlier this week just because I was having trouble breathing and I couldn't practice. I was just feeling miserable in the game against Liberty."
"Sports medicine team did a great job of running back and forth and getting me tea during the game to make it more manageable, just to get through it. After the game is when it really got worse. Didn't really affect after the Liberty game going into the Virginia Tech game."
ELI HANBACK
Q - In terms of the unbroken growth, would beating Clemson, pulling off the upset, would that be kind of skipping a step ahead, cheating ahead a little bit for this program?
"I don't think so. I wasn't here, Charles might have been talking about that a little bit. I don't think it's skipping ahead. I think we prepare to win every game. We do that to the best of our ability."
"We're a good football team. We've made great strides. They have been fast if you look at that across the board. I don't think it's jumping ahead. I don't think it's something we're focusing on, are we going faster than expected. We're one game at a time like we have been all season, prepared to have success."
Q - A big focus going into this season was to improve the run defense. I assume you've been pleased that you have improved there. What have you seen from that improvement? How big a challenge will Clemson and Travis Etienne be?
"Ever since the off-season we've had a focus on improving our run game. Overall, the year as a whole, it has improved since the last three defenses we've had under Coach Mendenhall. That's something we've put a focus on, whether that be our mindset, just assignment, run fits. We put a big focus on that."
"But we're going to have a huge test ahead of us. Clemson, obviously one of the best teams in the country, have been for a while now. With that O-line, Travis Etienne, they are very, very capable, very, very good. We got a tall order ahead of us. We're going to have to prepare."
Q - Did you and/or any of your teammates watch Clemson play on Saturday?
"I watched a little bit of the game. There was a lot of good games on. I was kind of flicking around. My teammates, I'm sure they have. A lot of us have already started watching film on them to get ready to play this weekend."
"That's one of the big things that goes into preparation, is film study. It's something you have to be locked in on and ready to go. Yeah, myself and teammates have already started doing that, yeah."
- What are your impressions of Trevor Lawrence?
"He's a fantastic quarterback. He's going to be playing NFL one day. He's one of the best doing it right now. We got a tall order ahead of us."
CHARLES SNOWDEN
Q - How much of an opportunity is this in terms of the scope of your career to go against basically the best team in the nation?
"I mean, opportunities like this don't happen every day. To go up against the reigning national champs, ACC champs, it's a great opportunity. You're not going to find better talent than this in the country. I'm excited to get that opportunity."
Q - Are you approaching this, please don't be insulted, but everybody knows the stakes for both teams, are you approaching this as nothing to lose?
"Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say nothing to lose. We're going at it with no fear. We've had a great season so far. We're just looking to build on that. We're going to give it our best foot forward, surrender the outcome and let the chips fall where they may."
Q - How much have you had a chance to watch Clemson previously across the past two years, winning 27 games in a row? How aware of that are you?
"Just in terms of being a college football fan, it's hard not to have seen them play because they've been in the national championship the last I think four years now."
"I mean, I'm definitely very familiar with them kind of from a fan perspective. I haven't necessarily watched too much as an opponent, X's and O's type manner. I have a sense of what they like to do, their style of play, their tempo, their culture."
"Now I'm looking forward to getting into their scheme, what they're trying to attack, their strengths and weaknesses."
Q - You were mentioning having watched them more as a fan than as a student of the game. From your position, what are the things you have to do against an offense that is so balanced with someone like Etienne running, then Lawrence throwing?
"I think it's just not try to do too much, understanding that the defense has to work as a whole. One thing we talk about is doing your 1/11th. I think it's just doing my 1/11th, but doing it at a higher level than I did all year."
"I don't think I need to go out there and try to create a play every play out there. It's just understanding my job, doing it to the best of my ability, trusting the guys around me that they'll do theirs, see what happens."
Q - You've talked so much about unbroken growth in this program. To go from losing a bowl game, winning a bowl game, now being in the ACC title game, with an upset of Clemson, do you think that would be ahead of schedule for where this program is trying to get to?
"I mean, I don't think we kind of necessarily have a schedule. I think our goal is just to improve every year. Whatever that improvement looks like is great. I wouldn't say it would be ahead of schedule or behind schedule. If it happens, I think it would be right on schedule."
"I mean, as long as we are improving from the year before, I think it's right on schedule."
Q - You talked so much going into the year about improving the run defense. I assume you feel like you made big strides in that area. How far have you come on run defense and how big a challenge will Saturday be?
"We've definitely made improvements kind of since that middle part of the year where we were struggling a little bit. We still have a long way to go. We still have little assignments we need to fix. Also kind of the mindset we're doing it with."
"We've definitely taken strides, but there's still a lot of room for improvement, as there always is."
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