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Football

Fuente talks quarterbacks and more, as season opener approaches

By Jimmy Robertson
 
BLACKSBURG – With Virginia Tech's football season set to kick off in 10 days, head coach Justin Fuente met with members of the media Wednesday morning via video conference and updated them on the program – and specifically the quarterback position.
 
To no one surprise, he said that Hendon Hooker was in the No. 1 spot. But he surprised many with his follow-up news of where Braxton Burmeister stood on the depth chart.
 
"If we were to play a game right in this moment, Hendon would start for us," Fuente said. "I've been really pleased with him through fall camp, but Braxton would play, and I've been really pleased with him as well. Hendon is our starter and deserves to play, and Braxton has earned the right to play as well. I don't know what that will look like in terms of percentage and all that stuff. I'm pretty far away from going down that road … I don't know exactly what that will look like, but I'm pretty excited about both of those guys."
 

Burmeister transferred to Tech last year after spending two seasons at Oregon, where he played in 11 games overall and started four of them. As a freshman, he completed 59.4% of his passes for 307 yards, with two touchdowns and four interceptions. As a sophomore, he played in four games, and he completed 5 of 10 for 43 yards.
 
The La Jolla, California product sat out last season after the NCAA rejected his appeal for immediate eligibility, and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancelation of spring practice, leaving coaches speculating on what exactly Burmeister brought to the team. Yet has impressed Tech's coaching staff, particularly with his ability to make something out nothing when plays break down, especially with his legs.
 
"He can really run," Fuente admitted. "He's got some savvy out there. He seems to be pretty calm and in the moment, and he's an accurate passer. He's extremely athletic."
 
It remains to be seen how much Burmeister plays. For sure, he would need to play very well to overcome Hooker, who enjoyed a tremendous season last fall after being moved into the starting role following Tech's loss to Duke. Hooker started eight games and completed 61.1% of his passes for 1,555 yards, with 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He also rushed for five touchdowns.
 
Hooker said he wasn't bothered by the news that Fuente planned on giving Burmeister an opportunity to play.
 
"The head man knows what he's doing, so he's going to put us in the best situation to win, and if that's it, we're going to roll with it," Hooker said. "When it's my time, I'm going to play ball, and when it's Braxton's time, he's going to play ball."
 
With Hooker, Burmeister and Quincy Patterson – who led the Hokies to a six-overtime victory over North Carolina last season after Hooker suffered an injury – the Hokies feature three experienced players at the quarterback position. That potentially gives them an advantage this fall, as the COVID-19 pandemic could render groups of players unavailable to play for certain games.
 

Truthfully, depth will be needed at every position, as teams deal with the unknown from week to week.
 
"It's going to be like that at every position. Quarterback is probably the position that is the most important," Fuente said. "You don't have to imagine too hard a scenario where you have to play with your entire roster of quarterbacks. Right now, we've got four that have practiced and can go out there and operate what we're doing. We've got three that have played in or have won Power 5 football games, and I think that is a huge asset to us and something that, particularly this year, we may have to utilize."
 
Here are some other takeaways from Wednesday's video news conference:
 
• Hooker said that he spent some time this summer working out with current Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen, who grew up in a small town near Raleigh, North Carolina and attended North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina – Hooker's hometown.  A fourth-round pick of the Bears in 2017 and a Pro Bowl selection in 2018, Cohen offered plenty of advice to Hooker during their workouts.
 
"Tarik really just kind of talked to me about the mental aspect of the game and making sure that you make your mark on whoever's there and whoever you're playing against," Hooker said. "Let them know that you mean business and that you take your craft seriously."
 
• With the opener fast approaching, Fuente and his staff continue to work players at different positions to create versatility and depth in the event of several players at a given position being ruled out for games because of COVID-19. He didn't get into the specifics of who was working at what positions – no need to help an opponent prepare – but the shuffling around continues on a small scale.
 
"We've got probably 10 guys working one side or the other," Fuente said. "I've thought about doing it on a larger scale, but I don't see it being useful. There are a handful of guys that I think, in short time, could be trained to help us in an emergency on either side of the ball, and those are the ones we've focused on."
 
• In addition to creating depth at various positions, Fuente said Wednesday that he has created contingency plans in the event of assistant coaches being forced to miss games. Tech's staff features three graduate assistants and two quality control coaches with the ability to step in, and Fuente himself could move into a position-specific role, if required.
 
"What we have is kind of a first in line, second in line, third in line, and so there is all the coaches names on it," he said. "It's kind of like the president. There's the president, the vice president, the secretary of state – however that goes all the way down the line of next in power.
 
"Obviously, we have some young coaches that are very talented and can fill in at a number of positions. I can fill in. I'm pretty versatile, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, to fill in to help. We've gone through the whole thing. I've met with the coordinators, both special teams, offense and defense, and lined out their thoughts and shared them with the staff. We've actually practiced some of that throughout some of our scrimmages in terms of who is calling what and making decisions like that just to kind of simulate it as best we can."
 
• Tech receiver Jaden Payoute, a redshirt freshman, is out indefinitely with a leg injury that required surgery earlier this week. Payoute had impressed the staff, and his speed gave the Hokies another downfield threat. Tré Turner and Tayvion Robinson give the Hokies a nice tandem, but Tech's staff needs for others to emerge in light of Payoute's injury – and they like what they have seen from graduate transfers Evan Fairs (Kansas) and Changa Hodge (Villanova).  
 
"I've been pleased with both the newcomers, both Evan and Changa," Fuente said. "They seem to be picking it up really well and executing at a high level. I've been pleased with those guys. Tayvion continues to work some outside and work to get comfortable there. Kaleb Smith played a little bit for us last year, particularly early in the year. He continues to improve, and I continue to keep feeling better and better about him as an every-down player.
 
"The benefit we have is we have a couple of guys that can slide in the slot, either a tight end or a running back, that kind of give us a little more depth at wide receiver and let us train guys on the outside, as opposed to always having to have three of them out there."
 
• Tech's staff continues to watch closely the cornerback positions, which took a hit with preseason All-American Caleb Farley's decision to opt out of this season. Jermaine Waller and Armani Chatman currently stand in the top spots on the depth chart, and Fuente said he likes what he has seen from Brion Murray, a former junior college transfer who played in 11 games last season, mostly on special teams.
 
He also singled out Dorian Strong as one to watch. Strong is a true freshman from Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
 
"He's still young, but he's shown why we recruited him out of [summer] camp," Fuente said. "He's a good, solid football player. I think it's got a chance to be really good in the future."