![]() ![]() We have somebody else and we are going to play them. “Those guys know even if they are the starter, they can’t go out there and not continue to improve. It just so happens in our short time here, we have found ourselves with competition each time. “You make the decision and you move forward. “With that position, you know you know,” Fuente said. ![]() Fuente has waited to do that until August every year since he took the Virginia Tech job, and though Willis would seem to have the inside track, as Jackson did last season before he earned the official designation, the coach is willing to let the process play out at its own pace. Though Saturday will offer everyone a glimpse of the quarterbacks, it’s probably not going to result in the naming of a starter. It’s kind of just take everything with a grain of salt and know what I’m here for, who I am and my purpose.” “And that’s kind of how I’ve treated being here and the things that came with me being a quarterback and me being as highly recruited as I was. “I mean, you can’t take all of that out, but my parents have kind of raised me in a way that I kind of stay level-headed and I just know that I’m not above anyone else,” he said. Patterson said he has tried to “zone all that out” when it comes to the expectations. Guys want to get better, they have an urgency to be good right now, but also they’re not impatient in understanding that there’s a little bit of a process that comes with this. On a whole, I think he’s done a tremendous job of not getting impatient but also having urgency to improve. They’re very developed physically but are learning to catch up to the speed of the game and the intricacies of playing ball. “Some guys are ahead mentally but far behind physically some guys are flip-flopped. Everybody has experiences through their high school and Pop Warner careers that bring them into college at a certain level. … These kids deal with this stuff, these expectations or labels or whatever you want to give them when they come out of high school. “He seems to be a very level-headed young man, very humble and hard-working. “I think he’s done a really good job with it all, quite honestly,” Fuente said. Take a glance at Patterson, who’s 6 feet 4 and a solid 245 pounds and certainly looks the part, and you can see why the Hokies’ fan base has bought into the hype, even if Fuente and Patterson himself have tried to keep that at bay. Patterson knows expectations surrounding him were a bit out-sized, but says he has managed to remain even-keeled because of how he was raised. Though Patterson had a cut on his right index finger that limited him for a portion of spring (“It’s pretty hard to throw with four fingers,” coach Justin Fuente said), it sounds as if he’s had productive practices so far, building off a freshman campaign during which he preserved his redshirt but got a taste of action, coming in for some rushing plays against North Carolina, getting some garbage time against Pittsburgh and briefly entering as an injury replacement against Boston College. While Saturday won’t be a final exam, it will be a mid-semester quiz, just to see how things are going. Though he’s barely played in actual games, Hendon Hooker already has been through two springs at Virginia Tech, showing well in the 2017 edition while largely running with the second team.īut Patterson’s first real moment in the sun has been something Hokies fans have been waiting for since he committed to Virginia Tech a little more than two years ago. That came not long after Willis’ own unveiling in last year’s spring game, when he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Willis started 10 games last season after Josh Jackson was injured. It’s as anticipated of a spring debut by a quarterback since junior college standout Jerod Evans transferred in ahead of the 2016 season. The Hokies’ spring game Saturday likely will feature all three of the team’s quarterbacks to some degree, though most of the Lane Stadium denizens will be most eager to see Patterson in his first extended action to date. “But I think I’ve gotten a pretty good grasp on it and think that’s a big advantage.” “I’m a quick learner, and coming from the high school that I came from, the offense wasn’t as complicated as it is here,” Patterson said. On the field, he has had a similar first-year education, dabbling in the playbook last fall and playing about 20 snaps after his summer arrival, getting a larger complement of reps this offseason and thinking he’s much better off by the end of his first circuit of spring drills. ![]()
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