Tyrod Taylor Tyrod Taylor ( born August 3 , 1989 ) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was the starting quarterback for the Virginia Tech Hokies football team from the start of the 2008 college football season until the 2011 Orange Bowl , the final game of the 2010 college football season for Virginia Tech . High school career . At Hampton High School , Taylor led the team as quarterback , while also becoming the team ' s kick returner and safety . During his three years as starter , he led the team to a 34 - 4 record . He accumulated 7 , 690 yards of offense and scored 100 total touchdowns . He passed for 5 , 144 yards and 44 touchdowns , while rushing for 2 , 546 yards and 56 scores . When Tyrod graduated from Hampton in 2007 , he was rated as the No . 1 dual - threat quarterback at Rivals . com . ESPN . com rated him the No . 3 overall quarterback , while Scout . com said he ' s the nation ' s seventh - best passer . Taylor , who is 6 ' - 1 " and 200 pounds , ran a 4 . 55 - second 40 yard dash . Taylor narrowed his final two choices down to Virginia Tech and the University of Florida , and eventually chose to attend Virginia Tech . College career . Freshman year . During Taylor ' s freshman year , he shared time for most of the season with the junior quarterback Sean Glennon . His first action of college football came in the game against the LSU Tigers on September 8 , 2007 . In that game , Taylor completed 7 of 18 passes for 62 yards , rushed for 44 yards on nine attempts including his first collegiate touchdown . After that game , Tyrod was named the starter by head coach Frank Beamer . In his first collegiate start against Ohio University , Tyrod threw for 287 yards , adding a rushing touchdown . One of Taylor ' s early accolades was rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown as well as passing for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading Virginia Tech to its first victory against Florida State in two decades . The win was the first ever for Frank Beamer against FSU coach Bobby Bowden . On October 13 , in the second quarter of a game against Duke University , Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain which forced him to miss two games . Taylor returned in a game at Georgia Tech , but did not start for the rest of the season and rotated time with starter Sean Glennon . Throughout the season , he accumulated 1 , 356 total yards , including 927 passing and 429 rushing . He completed 72 of 134 passing attempts , for a completion percentage of 53 . 7 . He scored 11 touchdowns during the year , five passing and six rushing . Sophomore year . Coming into the 2008 Season , Taylor was intended to be redshirted . After Virginia Tech ' s loss to East Carolina University though , his redshirt was taken off due to Tech ' s need for more offense . Taylor ' s first appearance of the season came in the second game of the season against Furman , where he rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown . His first sophomore start came in the following week vs . Georgia Tech . After starting every game of the 2008 season leading up to the Florida State game on October 25 , Tyrod suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play of the VT - FSU game . Sean Glennon relieved Taylor at the quarterback position after this setback . While Glennon got the start versus Miami , Taylor split time with Glennon and lead a crucial fourth quarter to make it a two point game 16 - 14 . However , he was sacked in a crucial 4th and 3 with less than two minutes to go . After the loss , Taylor started against Duke . After committing 5 turnovers in the first half , he was pulled from the game and replaced by Sean Glennon . Taylor then started next week at UVA . He performed well including a 73 yard run . He threw 12 for 18 for 137 yards 1 touchdown while rushing 16 times for 137 yards . He then started in the ACC Championship Game win over Boston College and was named the ACC Championship Game MVP . On January 1 he led his team to the Orange Bowl . Junior year . During his Junior season , Taylor lead the Hokies to a 9 - 3 regular season record and a 2nd place finish in the Coastal Division of the ACC . The Hokies played the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2009 Chick - fil - A Bowl and won 37 - 14 , finishing with a final record of 10 - 3 . After climbing as high as 4th in the rankings , Tech lost back to back games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina , but finished the season ranked 10th in both the AP and USA Today Top 25 polls . Taylor holds a 23 - 5 career record at Virginia Tech , which is the second most wins of all time for a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech . Senior year . Taylor ' s senior season began with two heartbreaking losses to Boise State at FedExField and at home to Division I - FCS James Madison . Taylor was 15 - of - 22 for 186 yards and two touchdowns , along with 73 yards on the ground , against Boise State , but was unable to respond following a Broncos score with 1 : 03 remaining . However , Taylor ultimately lead the Hokies to a remarkable turnaround season , winning 11 in a row after the 0 - 2 start . The 2010 Hokies became the first ACC team to finish with an undefeated 8 - 0 record in ACC play in 10 years . They became ACC Champions for the 4th time in 7 seasons in the ACC with a 44 - 33 win over Florida State in the 2010 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte . Taylor finished the regular season as ACC Player of the Year and ACC Championship Game Most Valuable Player . Taylor participated in the 2011 East - West Shrine Game . He completed four of his five passes for 59 yards . " * Single season school record " College stats . " ^ School career record " Professional career . Baltimore Ravens . Taylor was drafted in Round 6 with the 180th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens . He orchestrated the game winning touchdown drive in preseason week 3 . He hit Brandon Jones for a 9 yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds remaining . He served as the backup quarterback behind Joe Flacco . From Atlanta , in his 1st career start ( exhibition preseason week 4 ) , Tyrod Taylor left the Ravens ’ exhibition finale with a shoulder bruise Thursday night , potentially putting a crimp in the team ' s quarterback plans . Early tests revealed no separation and the rookie ' s injury was characterized as a contusion . Taylor had his first regular season playing time on December 4 , 2011 in a victory against the Cleveland Browns . He had one rush for a two yard gain . He would appear as well on December 18 and throw his first ever regular season pass , a completion for 18 yards . He also lined up as a wide receiver for one play against the Indianapolis Colts . On December 30 , 2012 in Week 17 of the 2012 NFL season against the Cincinnati Bengals , Flacco was rested during the 4th quarter , offering Taylor decent playing time . During the 4th quarter of that game , Taylor would score his 1st career touchdown on a 1 yard QB bootleg . However , Taylor also threw a crucial interception to Carlos Dunlap that would be returned for a touchdown . The Ravens would lose the game against the Bengals 23 - 17 . Taylor got his first championship title as the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII over the 49ers .