For the second straight season, Virginia Tech has its QB1 in the transfer portal, with Braxton Burmeister the latest guy on the lookout for a new school.
Burmeister, you may remember, had battled former Hokie QB1 Hendon Hooker for the starting job in 2020, and was ultimately anointed the would-be starter after the season.
Hooker reacted to that move by former head coach Justin Fuente by putting his name into the portal, eventually landing at Tennessee, where he put up video-game numbers under first-year coach Josh Heupel – with a 182.2 QB rating, 69.0 percent completion rate, 2,567 yards, 26 TDs and just three INTs, adding 561 yards and five TDs on the ground, as UT finished the regular season with a 7-5 mark, including a 4-4 finish in the SEC East.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for Burmeister, a former Oregon transfer. He was in and out of the lineup with injuries in his 2021, finishing with a modest 135.2 QB rating, 55.2 percent completion rate, 1,960 yards, 14 TDs and four INTs, adding 521 yards and five TDs on the ground, as Virginia Tech finished 6-6, 4-4 in the ACC Coastal.
Word out of Blacksburg is that Burmeister won’t be allowed to suit up in the Pinstripe Bowl game with Maryland, which leaves Tech with just two healthy QBs – Texas A&M transfer Connor Blumrick and true freshman Tahj Bullock.
You have to imagine that incoming head coach Brent Pry had to have had a talk with Burmeister about 2022 ahead of the QB deciding to hit the portal, and that the talk would have had to center on, we’re going to be looking for somebody new to start for us next year.
Hokies fans are no doubt expecting Burmeister to put up big numbers wherever he ends up for 2022, but this is a good move by Pry.
Story by Chris Graham
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