Hooker named hokies' starter; burmeister to contribute

Chris Hirons

September 10, 2020

BLACKSBURG — Four games into last season, Virginia Tech was falling hard and fast.

Sitting with a disappointing 2-2 record and coming off an embarrassing 45-10 loss on a Friday night against Duke, Tech head coach Justin Fuente knew he had to make a change at the quarterback position.

Fuente benched former starting quarterback Ryan Willis in the midst of the ugly loss to Duke and inserted redshirt sophomore Hendon Hooker, who had yet to attempt a pass in a collegiate football game, into the starting lineup.

Hooker became everything the free-falling Hokies needed: An offensive spark plug.

For most of the offseason and fall camp, the coaching staff had Hooker penciled in as week one’s starting quarterback. Fuente and his staff threw away the pencil and scribbled in Hooker’s name with a sharpie on Tuesday, cementing him as the starting quarterback for the Hokies’ first game of the season against the Virginia Cavaliers on Sept. 19.

“If we were going to play a game at this moment, Hendon would start, and Braxton [Burmiester] would play,” Fuente said.

The former four-star recruit was given the keys to Virginia Tech’s offense in 2019 and never handed them back. In eight starts, Hooker led the Hokies to a 6-2 record, including winning his first six starts, with both his arm and legs. The Greensboro, N.C. native accounted for 1,555 yards through the air and added 13 touchdowns, while completing 61.1% percent of his passes and threw only two interceptions.

A dynamic threat, Hooker ran for 356 yards, though he averaged just 2.9 yards-per-carry, but had a season-high 34-yard touchdown carry in the gut-wrenching loss to UVa. As an elusive runner, Hooker added five more scores with his legs.

The Hokies’ head coach also alluded to redshirt junior Braxton Burmiester, a quarterback transfer from Oregon. Burmiester wasn’t granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA last season and was forced to sit out for the entirety of 2019.

Prior to arriving in Blacksburg, the former Oregon Duck sat behind the 2020 NFL Draft’s sixth overall pick in Justin Herbert for his first two years. As a true freshman, he completed 59.4% of his passes while throwing for 307 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

“He [Burmiester] can really run,” Fuente told reporters. “He’s got some savvy out there. He’s an accurate passer and extremely athletic.”

Both Hooker and Fuente sounded enthusiastic about Burmiester’s playmaking ability. With that in the forefront of Fuente’s mind, the Hokies’ head coach suggested that Tech could run out two-quarterback sets at some point during the season. Hooker told reporters that he’s been trying to incorporate Burmiester’s play style into his own game.

“He can make a play out of nothing,” Hooker said of Burmiester. “I love seeing other quarterbacks succeed; at this point I’m just a fan of his.”

In his own right, the newly-tagged starting quarterback worked hard to improve his ability as both a runner and passer during the offseason. On Tuesday, Hooker told reporters that he worked out with Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen and Virginia Tech running back Jalen Holston in his hometown during the coronavirus shutdown.

Redshirt sophomore Quincy Patterson II gave his own anecdote of his experience while working out during the spring shutdown. Although he didn’t work with NFL players or teammates, he chuckled and said that he went to parks in the Chicago suburbs with only two-to-three other people but was kicked out a number of times because of social distancing ordinances.

Patterson, the presumed third-stringer, comes into this season in the same position he did last year. After injuries knocked out both Willis and Hooker, Patterson found himself on the field in the thrilling six-overtime win against North Carolina and started the nail biting loss to Notre Dame in South Bend.

“I was going into last year thinking my number could be called at any time,” Patterson said. “I’m going into this season with the same mindset.”

It seems as if the offense has already drawn up packages that revolve around all three quarterbacks. Patterson’s most likely to burn defenses with his legs, rather than his arm at this stage of his career. Meanwhile, Hooker and Burmiester are more polished passers that will end up throwing the pigskin more.

Earlier in his press conference, Fuente stressed the importance of having three quarterbacks that already have game experience, especially in a season where Hooker or Burmiester could come down sick the day before a game and have to sit out.

“It’s a huge plus for us to have three guys that have played or won a Power Five football game,” Fuente said. “I’m not sure if there’s another program that has a situation quite like us.”