Redshirt freshman Josh Jackson named Virginia Tech's starting QB

Josh Jackson’s college football debut will come on a big stage.

Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente announced Monday that Jackson, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt freshman, has been named the team’s starting quarterback. His first collegiate action will come in the Hokies primetime, Sunday night opener against West Virginia in Landover, Maryland on Sept. 3.

Jackson beat out junior college transfer A.J. Bush and true freshman Hendon Hooker to win the No. 1 role. Bush, who began his career at Nebraska before a season at Iowa Western Community College, is currently No. 2 on the depth chart, Fuente told reporters.

Fuente waited a little longer to name Jerod Evans, who competed with Jackson and fifth-year senior Brenden Motley, the starter last season. This time around, he felt like it was clear that Jackson separated himself with his consistency.

“He’s continued to improve in terms of his ability to deliver the ball on time. He’s got a pretty good understanding of what we’re trying to get accomplished, [and] like I said, a great demeanor,” Fuente said. “There’s competitive spirit there — not that there’s not with the other ones, but the word that comes to my mind is, day in and day out, he’s been the most consistent in terms of the things that we talked about, the kind of three criteria that we talked about before this camp started that we were looking for – taking care of the ball, expected outcomes and then how we feel. In those three categories, we feel the best about Josh.”

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While redshirting in 2016, Jackson was the Hokies’ third-string quarterback and traveled with the team to away games. The former three-star prospect is considered a dual-threat QB, but doesn’t move quite as well as Evans, who rushed for 846 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2016.

When he starts against West Virginia, Jackson will be the first freshman to open the season as VT’s starter since Tyrod Taylor did so as a true freshman in 2007. The matchup between the Hokies and Mountaineers will be the first meeting between the two since 2005, the year after Tech left the Big East for the ACC. The teams have played 51 times, dating back to 1912. WVU holds the series edge, 28-22-1.

That game is one of two Sunday night games on college football’s opening weekend. UCLA and Texas A&M also meet that night. Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Virginia Tech went 10-4 and won the ACC Coastal Division in 2016, Fuente’s first with the program.

For more Virginia Tech news, visit HokieHaven.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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