Marcus is the pick of the Vicks

Please everyone hands and feet inside the car. This is going to be a wild ride.

Marcus Vick is better than Mike Vick.

There, I said it.

I don't mean he's better than Mike in certain aspects of his game. I don't mean he's better than Mike compared to where Mike was at this point in his college career. I don't mean he does better things than Mike or that he has more potential than Mike or that one day he'll eventually be better than Mike.

I mean he's better than Mike. Period.

I mean if I were starting an NFL team--and I hate NFL analogies because it does a disservice to the college game and because, frankly, the NFL is about as exciting as C-SPAN--I'd take Marcus. He's a much better thrower, he's just as good a runner, and he has a thicker body frame to absorb big hits. He plays with intensity, he wants to win, and whether he admits it or not, he's always playing with an I'll-show-you attitude because some dude before him tilted the bar to 10.

Marcus is a quarterback in every sense. Mike is a highlight film--a strip of dynamic frames that sputter in the projector when he's forced to make plays with his arm. Marcus is comfortable with his role in the Virginia Tech offense. Mike plays as if everything were riding on his performance.

So I threw these thoughts by Hokies quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers, who never worked with Mike but knows a little something about dual-threat quarterbacks, having coached Donovan McNabb at Syracuse. I expected to be: a) laughed at, b) called an idiot or c) hung up on.

Instead, I got this: "I think we've just begun to see what Marcus can do," Rogers says.

And that's the difference. With Mike, it's almost as if he has tapped out. He's incredibly scary when he breaks containment and uses his legs, but does his arm really throw fear into opponents? Then there's Marcus, who Mike admits is better than he is--though one certainly can deduce that Mike is being generous.

I'm not.

Marcus can make any throw: with velocity or touch, on the run or in the pocket. NFL scouts call it body control--the ability to make any throw from a variety of body positions. He's extremely accurate, to the point that the Tech staff is confident calling any play in any situation. When Mike was running around Blacksburg, there always was the understanding that it only took the slightest hint that he couldn't complete a specific play call or that the play was breaking down and Mike would turn to his legs to bail him out.

Three weeks ago against West Virginia, Marcus hit tight end Jeff King on a skinny post for a touchdown, and he threw off his back foot while avoiding the rush. The play had called for a five-step drop, but Marcus couldn't get three steps before the rush forced him to turn his body slightly to the left and short-arm a throw with velocity and accuracy.

"In this business, you see a lot of big-time players," Rogers says. "There are times with Marcus when we look at each other and say, 'Did you just see that?'"

Look, in no way is this a slap at Mike, who revolutionized the game. His talent led to a new offense (spread option) and the use of dual-threat quarterbacks (Alex Smith, Vince Young, Reggie McNeal) as never before. Marcus simply is doing it better than anyone else, including his older brother.

Here's the scary part: Marcus still isn't comfortable in Tech's run game. He still hasn't completely developed the one aspect of his game that will take him from a dangerous quarterback to a championship quarterback. The Hokies rarely run the option with him and haven't called nearly as many quarterback draws from the spread as the staff did when Mike was around--or even last year with Bryan Randall.

There's this theory that Marcus doesn't run because he doesn't like contact and doesn't want to risk getting injured. That's absolutely ridiculous. I've seen him lower his shoulder and go after linebackers on scrambles. I saw him save Tech's hide in the opener against N.C. State with a couple of key scrambles.

Marcus doesn't run as much as Mike or most dual-threat quarterbacks because, more than anything, he's a pocket passer. He's a thrower first, a scrambler second. Eventually, someone will stop Tech's stout running game this season. Then Marcus will have to throw the ball 40 times to win a game.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he completed 35 of them," Rogers says.

Marcus is better than Mike, all right. And he'll do what Mike couldn't at Tech.

Win a national title.

Florida State's loss is not the Hokies' gain

In one weekend, Virginia Tech's chances of getting to the Rose Bowl took a big hit. And the Hokies didn't even step on the field. Wouldn't you know it-the Hokies can blame rival Virginia.

Florida State's loss to the Cavs last weekend means the ACC's dream of a matchup between unbeaten Tech and unbeaten FSU in the first league championship game is done. It also means the big lift the Hokies could have received with a win in the title game in that scenario--one that could have been enough to leapfrog No. 2 Texas in the BCS poll--won't happen.