Smash Hit

Sporting News, The, Nov 1, 1999 by Kyle Veltrop

Virginia Tech has the makings of a blockbuster team capable of winning the national championship, thanks to multitalented freshman quarterback Michael Vick

"An elite team"--Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris.

"They look mighty good to me." -- Temple coach Bobby Wallace.

"Scary! Just dynamite." -- West Virginia coach Don Nehlen.

The reviews are rushing in on Virginia Tech, which has made the move from a "nice little team" to a national championship contender that can wag its finger at naysayers and point to a scoreboard that reads: Hokies 62, Guys Who Thought They Had A Chance 0.

What has happened to a team that supposedly was all about defense and special teams?

You know, the defense that features end Corey Moore doing his Tasmanian Devil impersonation and leaving quarterbacks in the land of Looney Toons. And the special teams that brought you a national-best 62 blocked kicks this decade. Where is the team that seemed to he a good fit for the Music City Bowl--not the Sugar Bowl--you ask?

Michael Vick took it over, we answer.

"This Vick guy gives them a real different dimension," Nehlen says. "They've always had that great defense. Now to team that with one of the premier quarterbacks in the nation ... I think they are on to something."

What they may on to is a national championship course, but a few teams in the Fraternal Order of Unbeatens --Florida State, Penn State, Kansas State--will have to lose. And the Bowl Championship Series computers will have to spit out somewhat-kind strength-of-schedule numbers so the Hokies, who are hampered by playing in the weak Big East, don't bumped below a one-loss power such as Florida or Nebraska in the BCS standings.

The Hokies can worry about those things, but they can't change them. So for now, they'll roll up points and wins, and tune up for their last real test: a

visit from Miami (Fla.) November 13. And, oh yeah, they'll continue to watch their splendid quarterback go.

Michael Vick was the missing corner of a 1,000-piece puzzle that had 999 parts snugly in place. Freshmen step into key roles on various teams each season, but none in recent memory has had a more profound impact than Vick and his big left arm. The Hokies ranked 88th in the nation in offense a year ago (316.7 yards a game). After the 62-0 pasting of Syracuse October 16 that left Tech 6-0, the Hokies were averaging 428.5 yards. And no school is averaging more than the Hokies' 43.3 points.

"And it's basically the same group we had last year, except for Michael Vick," offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle says.

Vick was around last year, but coach Frank Beamer had promised Vick's coach at Warwick High in Newport News, Va., that he would redshirt him so he could develop. Vick practiced, studied film, went to meetings and road games and watched while one, then two Hokie quarterbacks were lost to injury. But his redshirt was retained.

The Hokies still finished 9-3 and beat Alabama in the Music City Bowl, their sixth consecutive postseason game. The Hokies were stuck in that good-but-not-elite class. Then spring practice came. Vick was upgraded from scout team to first team; Tech was bumped from good to borderline great.

"I first knew he was something special in the spring," tailback Shyrone Stith says. "I was just like, `Whoa. This guy is real legit.'"

After watching Vick, first-team defensive players gave each other high-fives, knowing the load on their shoulders was lightened after ranking seventh in the nation (284.9) in 1998. Last year's offense had a complex about being so simple. It was the team's weak link and it knew it. Its main mission was to give the defense time to recover on the sideline.

That's when the "Pssssst--we've got ourselves a quarterback" whispers wafted through Blacksburg. Couple that with a good defense that returned seven starters, and expectations began to mount.

Vick ran for three scores in an opening 47-0 win over James Madison, including a 7-yard touchdown in which he somersaulted into the end zone. On that play, he landed awkwardly on an ankle and injured it. He sat out one game, then returned against Clemson in the next game. He went 7-of-17 for 88 yards and was picked off three times in Tech's 31-11 victory. "I tried to make too many things happen," Vick says. "I tried to force things into a tight spot."

Bustle and Beamer told their quarterback that it was OK to make mistakes--but to avoid making the same mistake twice. Vick hasn't thrown an interception since. Vick started to click. The Hokies became a multifaceted juggernaut. In the next three wins, Tech outscored Virginia, Rutgers and Syracuse 151-27, and Vick completed 26-of-37 for 605 yards and six touchdowns. Virginia and Syracuse were both ranked before playing Tech.

Seemingly everyone has a Vick story. For Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni, it was when his defense sniffed out a Hokies fleaflicker but couldn't contain Vick. With a rash bearing down and his receivers covered, Vick danced around a pursuer, rolled to his fight and with a flick of his left wrist, fired a 23-yard strike to Andre Davis at the Syracuse 9-yard line.