Virginia Tech quarterback Josh Jackson will have surgery for a broken left fibula on Tuesday, head coach Justin Fuente announced at his Monday press conference. Jackson suffered his injury in the second half of Saturday’s 49-35 loss at Old Dominion. The timetable for his return is to be determined.
Through three games, Jackson has completed 62.1% of his passes for 575 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception. He has a quarterback efficiency rating of 170.34. He also had 11 carries for 58 yards against the Monarchs before he was injured on a read option.
With Jackson out, the Hokies will turn to redshirt junior Ryan Willis. Willis went 9-of-18 for 131 yards and a touchdown in relief of Jackson on Saturday. He also had four carries for 30 yards.
Willis is the former starting quarterback at Kansas. Thrust into the starting lineup on a bad team as a true freshman, he did not put up impressive numbers. For his career, including Saturday’s game at ODU, Willis has completed 54.5% of his passes for 2,725 yards, with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. However, nearly all of those numbers came as a very young player for Kansas. He’s much more prepared to face college defenses now than he was when he was 18 years old.
Redshirt freshman Hendon Hooker is expected to assume the role of backup quarterback. Hooker flashed a lot of speed during his 69-yard touchdown run against William & Mary, but he’s still a very young player who is behind the two older players in the passing game. At this point, true freshman Quincy Patterson is still expected to redshirt.
In other news, the networks have announced a six-day hold on the Virginia Tech-Notre Dame game. The game will kick off at either 3:30 or 8pm, and it will be televised by either ESPN or ABC. The announcement will come late Saturday or early Sunday.