Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 1 | August 2019

inside.hokiesports.com 17 Kitty Newton Photo KitKatNewt1@gmail.com “The Farmhouse... Eating Great Food here for over 30 Years.” – Coach Frank Beamer thefarmhousechristiansburg.com 285 Ridinger Street, Christiansburg, VA 24073 • (540) 251-7600 Prime Rib • Steaks • Seafood • Outdoor Courtyard • Private Dining • Weekend Brunch going to do what you are supposed to do play in and play out. Put a full game together, and let’s go put a full season together. It’s pretty wide open what we feel like he can execute as a quarterback. He can run, he can move, he can throw on the run, he can drop back and can run play action. He’s got a chance to be pretty good at a lot of different things.” Of course, in Blacksburg, individual stats matter little. The program prides itself on bowl games and winning seasons. The Hokies’ loss to Cincinnati in the Military Bowl left them at 6-7 on the year—their first losing season since 1992. “We beat UVA, and we went to a bowl game, but it was not acceptable,” Willis said of the season. “We did the bare minimum. We have a standard here, and we barely grazed by it. There’s no excuse for not having a winning season at Virginia Tech.” BIG FINALE Following spring practice, Fuente kept the competition open for the starting quarterback job, even though Willis played well this spring and threw three touchdown passes in the Spring Game. The head coach wanted all of his quarterbacks focused on getting better this summer. The decision makes sense, too. After a losing season, no position is a lock. “It sets an example for the team,” Willis said. “It starts at the quarterback. No one’s spot is guaranteed. Everyone has to compete. It just goes to show everyone has to bring their ‘A’ game every single day, day in and day out.” Willis’ experience—29 career games, 21 starts—certainly gives him an advantage. His play last year factors in as well. As he gears up for his final season, he enters with a lot of confidence. He certainly is not scared, either of internal competition or his opponents. Fear, after all, rarely leads to success in football. Or to put it in Willis’ terms, “Scared money don’t make money.” The 45-yard pass to Dalton Keene in the UVA game —“He had a seem down the right hash, and it kind of turned into a scramble drill. I saw him cutting across the field about 50 yards down the field. He had a step, and I pulled the trigger.” His 5-yard touchdown run against Cincinnati —“The defensive end took two steps in, and I knew I could out-run him. I just kind of snuck in. I was in so much pain [from a sore shoulder], and I was so cold. I just really, really wanted to score.” The first play of the Notre Dame game —“It was an incompletion. It wasn’t even a big play, but it was such a big stage and such a cool moment. That was like, ‘Wow, I’m here.’” A rush in the Pittsburgh game —“I got sacked against Pitt, but rolled over top of the guy, and everyone else stopped. I didn’t hear a whistle, and I just took off. I didn’t hit the ground. I rolled over top of the guy. It was a great feeling. Everyone was standing there, and I just took off running because I knew I didn’t hit the ground.” His 1-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Keene in the UNC game —“That was such a cool drive. We were playing awful the whole game, and we just turned it on. Just how it all it panned out—[Jovonn] Quillen getting the fumble recovery and then an 18-play, 98-yard drive to win the game. What in the world? People don’t do that. That’s really cool stuff.” WILLIS ’ FIVE FAVORITE PLAYS FROM 2018 1 2 3 4 5