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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- First Michael Vick flipped, then his
coaches did after another dazzling performance by the acrobatic
quarterback.
|  | | Michael Vick ran for a TD and threw for another in the Hokies' win over Rutgers. |
Vick scored on a spectacular somersault into the end zone, threw
for a touchdown and set up a third with a 45-yard escape and run
Saturday as No. 8 Virginia Tech beat Rutgers 49-0 in its Big East
opener.
"I got it when I went to the sidelines," Vick said of a
tongue-lashing from assistant coach Billy Hite. "But I knew I
was going to get a perfect landing. I knew how I wanted to land. I
just rolled into it."
Last season, in his much-anticipated debut, Vick ran for three
touchdowns against James Madison, including a similar dive and flip, but
sustained a leg contusion on the play and was forced to miss the
Hokies' next game.
"That flip scared me," Hokies coach Frank Beamer said of the
play early in the second quarter, which gave Virginia Tech a 28-0
lead.
Lee Suggs ran for four touchdowns and the Hokies picked up 348
of their 527 yards on the ground while holding Rutgers to 241
yards.
They also continued the resurgence of their special teams,
blocking one punt and smothering another after a bad snap, both
plays setting up first-half touchdowns as the Hokies rolled to a
35-0 lead by halftime.
Once again, though, Vick stole the show as Virginia Tech (3-0)
obliterated Rutgers' hope for its first 3-0 start since the 1981
season.
The sophomore, quiet in a 45-28 victory at East Carolina 10 days
earlier, passed for 105 yards and rushed for 104 in the opening
half, including the 8-yard run and flip that came 10:29 before
halftime.
On second-and-goal from the 8, Vick ran right, cut inside a
defender and dove for an opening into the end zone, somersaulting
in the air before he landed, then popping up to his feet to the
roars of the sellout crowd.
Earlier, while standing in the pocket, Vick slipped out of the
grasp of defensive lineman Jason Malakoski, bolted left and down
the sideline, finally getting pushed out of bounds at the Rutgers'
3.
"I was right behind him," Malakoski said. "I was running as
hard as I could to catch him, and he just spun back around."
Rutgers coach Terry Shea, whose team was coming off a 59-0
victory against Buffalo, said his squad helped Tech too much early
in the game.
"We played right into the script that they've had success with
in their first two games, and that was by the end of the first
quarter, you were pretty much fighting for your lives and out of
the game," he said.
The Hokies led Akron 21-3 in their opener, then took a 31-0
advantage into the locker room at halftime against East Carolina
last week.
Suggs, who followed Vick's 45-yard run with a 3-yard touchdown run,
also scored on runs of 7, 1 and 3 yards for the Hokies' first
four-touchdown performance since Tommy Edwards against Pittsburgh
in 1993.
Suggs finished with 76 yards on 16 carries.
Vick left after that sixth scoring drive early in the third
quarter and finished 10-for-18 for 120 yards, including a 17-yard
touchdown pass to Emmett Johnson. That play followed a botched snap on a
punt by Rutgers.
Rutgers had gotten 10 touchdown passes in two games from Mike
McMahon, but never had time to get its quick-hitting passing game
going. The Scarlet Knights threw 30 times in the first half,
completing just 10.
One of the Scarlet Knights' best scoring drives came on their
second possession when punter Mike Barr completed a 14-yard pass to
Shabib White on fourth-and-4 from the Rutgers' 26. McMahon then
drove the team to the Hokies' 30, but Steve Barone's 47-yard field-
goal attempt was wide right.
Later, with Rutgers down 35-0, McMahon's desperation heave on
fourth-and-2 from the Hokies' 22 was intercepted in the end zone by
Eric Green.
McMahon also went to the sidelines midway through the third
quarter with a strained right shoulder. He finished 12-for-36 for
149 yards.
Green's second-quarter punt block was the fourth in three games
for the Hokies, and the 79th in Beamer's 13-plus seasons as coach.
Keith Burnell, who broke off a 59-yard run early in the fourth
quarter for the Hokies, scored from the 1 three plays later to cap
the scoring.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Rutgers Clubhouse
Virginia Tech Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Michael Vick is at it again, somersaulting over a defender into the end zone.
avi: 735 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Michael Vick throws 17 yards to Emmett Johnson for the TD.
avi: 1038 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Lee Suggs runs 4 yards for a touchdown against Rutgers.
avi: 906 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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