There was a point last year where Virginia Tech’s season looked like it might not amount to much—namely, after the 45-10 loss at home to Duke at the end of September. It was at that point the Hokies made a switch at quarterback to redshirt sophomore Hendon Hooker, and the team proceeded to win six of its next seven.
Virginia Tech didn’t ask Hooker to do a lot through the air, which helped—the Hokies were among the more infrequent passing teams in the country, averaging about 25 pass attempts per game in 2019. Hooker only hit 30 attempts in a game once.