BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech quarterback Quincy Patterson admits he was shaking from nerves last season when he was called into action in the midst of a close game against North Carolina.
His reaction on Saturday night when his number was called in the second quarter of a win over N.C. State was much different.
“I can't say I expected it, but I was ready,” Patterson said.
Patterson, who is the team’s No. 3 quarterback, took over in the season opener after quarterback Braxton Burmeister went down with a hand injury early in the second quarter. The team’s expected starting quarterback Hendon Hooker didn’t dress out.
The third-year sophomore thought he might get a few snaps from a package of plays the coaching staff had designed for him, but he ended up playing nearly half of the game and put Tech firmly in control by halftime up 31-10.
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Patterson got in a groove after hitting tight end James Mitchell down the sidelines for a 33-yard gain down to N.C. State’s 25-yard line. It was the first of two third-down conversions on the drive that Patterson converted throwing the ball. He capped off the 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tayvion Robinson.
"I feel like you always need that one — not even a deep pass — even just a hitch that's five yards, just getting the ball out and knowing that you are in rhythm and that you are comfortable,” Robinson said of the throw to Mitchell. “I feel like that's something you always need as a quarterback."
Patterson didn’t look back — he finished the game 4 of 6 for 75 yards and ran the ball 10 times for 49 yards. He scored three touchdowns (two passing).
“Quincy was ready at a moment's notice,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said.
It was a rewarding moment for Fuente, who preached patience to Patterson when they spoke earlier this month about the team’s quarterback situation. Fuente didn’t want the former four-star signee out of Solorio Academy in Chicago to be discouraged looking up at both Hooker and Burmeister on the depth chart.
“I brought Quincy in and just told him, 'I'm not disappointed in you.' I still feel the same way I did the first day I ever saw you,” Fuente said. “I still think you keep working, you are going to have a chance to be a really productive player.”
Patterson didn’t let his disappointment over winning the job, and remained committed to helping the team any way he could even if he was limited to a few snaps here and there.
“To Quincy's credit, he continued to work, he didn't sulk,” Fuente said. “He's a very honest person. He can look at himself and see where he needs to continue to improve and that's what he does. You see guys like that on a daily basis that come to work and really take bad news the right way, quite honestly then there comes a time you have more trust in them because you know how they have handled things more in the past. Then he goes out there and executes."