BLACKSBURG – It wasn't exactly the bold, splashy announcement that fans might have expected, but Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente named a starting quarterback Thursday afternoon.
Saying that, 'barring any unforeseen circumstances,' Josh Jackson would take the first snap on Labor Day night when the Hokies take on Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida.
"We divided reps and gave everyone an opportunity, and we still feel like Josh is the best one for us and Josh has never batted an eye when we handled it like that," Fuente said. "He hasn't changed the way he's gone about things. He's earned that opportunity, and he'll be the guy."
Jackson, a redshirt sophomore, started all 13 games a year ago, leading the Hokies to a 9-4 record and a Camping World Bowl appearance. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns, with nine interceptions.
Jackson's passing yardage and 236 completions led all Power Five freshman quarterbacks in 2017. The first freshman quarterback at Virginia Tech to start a season opener since Michael Vick in 1999, Jackson was named ACC Freshman of the Week twice last season and tied a program record with five touchdown passes at East Carolina.
TODAY"S HOT TAKES 🔥
— Virginia Tech Football (@VT_Football) August 16, 2018
✅ @JoshieJack17 = QB1
✅ The RB vibe in all business
✅ The D-line is hungry
More via @JRobIHS 👇 https://t.co/FRM6RC3AHJ#Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/MSFFQQjBwa
Fuente opened the competition for the job in the offseason, and Kansas transfer Ryan Willis played well in the spring game, throwing two touchdown passes. But Jackson was the favorite to retain the job and has played well over the past several weeks, according to Fuente.
Fuente refused to name a backup Thursday, saying that he and his staff wanted to take more time to evaluate Willis, redshirt freshman Hendon Hooker and true freshman Quincy Patterson II.
"We're pretty meticulous about how we're planning all of those out, both getting Josh ready to play and continuing to sort through those other three guys and figure out if we're going to limit a package for one of them or two of them and then have the third one be responsible for all of it," Fuente said. "We're still figuring that sort of stuff out."
Here are some other notes from Thursday's news conference:
Hewitt a beast in Tuesday scrimmage
Several players performed well in Tuesday's scrimmage, but one player who received accolades Thursday was backup defensive tackle Jarrod Hewitt. The Florida native dropped some weight this offseason and got stronger – and noticeably quicker, as Tuesday's performance indicated.
"I think Jarrod Hewitt kind of took the scrimmage over at times," Wiles said. "Did some really good things. Looked at Jarrod and saw that quickness that we had recruited. Jarrod's really got it figured out. Again, a product of Coach Hilgart and his staff. He's in tremendous shape right now. Not a fat kid. Has got high body weight right and is really strong and in really, really good shape."
Mihota looks good in scrimmage as well
Tech defensive line coach Charley Wiles went into Tuesday's scrimmage a little concerned about Vinny Mihota, who continues to get back into shape after tearing his ACL at the end of last season. But Mihota showed much better movement in the scrimmage, playing a total of 19 plays.
"I was pleasantly surprised with how well Vinny moved around," Wiles said. "A lot of that has to be mental, too. Do you trust putting that foot in the ground and playing ball again. He's done a nice job with the rehab and now it's just getting into good football shape. He did all the running this summer, but he has missed some of the team good-on-good stuff. But he's coming along."
Beck receiving attention
Fuente received a question about Blacksburg native Cole Beck, who continues to work as a tailback and punt/kick returner. Given the new NCAA rule that allows freshmen to play in four games while still maintaining a redshirt season, Beck could receive some playing time this season.
"Oh that's certainly a possibility," Fuente said. "He has pretty elite speed, but it's still an adjustment for all of these guys – not just the speed of the game, but the volume of responsibility that they have. We're looking at all of those guys [freshmen] on special teams and on both sides of the ball, and we'll see how it all shakes out, but it's certainly something that we're paying attention to."
Hollifield set to play
While Fuente wasn't sure on Beck's playing this season, he showed less hesitation as it relates to Dax Hollifield, the talented linebacker from North Carolina and one of the crown jewels of the Hokies' 2018 recruiting class.
"I think Dax [Hollifield] is going to play," Fuente said. "I've been wrong before, but I see him continuing to improve and playing for us in some capacity."
Burden thankful for NFL opportunity
For the second straight year, Tech running backs coach Zohn Burden spent a portion of his summer learning from an NFL staff as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. This past July, he met with the Chargers staff to learn some of the finer points in coaching, and he expressed thanks to Fuente for the opportunity. More importantly, he feels he brought some tidbits back to Blakcsburg that will helps this program.
"The big thing [is] Coach Anthony Lynn of the Chargers was a running back coach for about 20 years," Burden said. "He coached a lot of great running backs. So just being able to be around him and be around his staff and learn small, minute details, things that I may skim or may not see that a guy that has 20 years of experience to help me see and bring that back to our players and our offense is monumental. It was a great experience."