Hendon Hooker named to Maxwell Award watchlist

Watchlist season rolls on, and today's Virginia Tech honoree is a player whose success would go a long way toward the Hokies achieving larger goals.

Hokie quarterback Hendon Hooker is a candidate for the Maxwell Award, which is annually granted to the best offensive player in college football.

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Hooker emerged as Virginia Tech's starter in the fifth game of the season, before which the Orange and Maroon had struggled to a 2-2 record under Ryan Willis. He was limited due to injury against North Carolina - and missed the subsequent game against Notre Dame entirely - but was the team's first-choice quarterback from that point forward.

He completed 61.1% of his passes for 1555 yards with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions on the year, and also provided a major threat in the run game with 123 rushes for 356 yards and another two scores, despite being sacked 17 times behind a porous offensive line. He did fumble 10 times on the year, however.

The hope for the Hokies is that Hooker's first significant on-field experience will prep him to take his game to another level, and that an improving squad around him will allow the coaching staff to open up the offense a bit more - he averaged just 20 passes per start.

Hooker was initially a three-star prospect from Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley High, and the final two years of his college career have high expectations in Justin Fuente's system.

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