This game was a roller-coaster ride of emotions for most Tech fans. If you're the typical Tech fan, you're thrilled with Vick's running but worried about his passing. You're happy with the way the Tech offensive line opened up gaping holes for Lee Suggs to slash through, but you're probably not happy with the way Boston College's offensive line opened up gaping holes for their running backs to run through.

As this interesting and often exciting Tech team makes its way through the schedule, laboring under the weight of the expectations born in the 1999 Sugar Bowl season, its strengths and weaknesses coexist together in plain view, often manifesting themselves on consecutive plays, maybe even in the same play.

There are reasons for concern, but through it all, they simply keep blasting their opposition with a flood of points on the way to victory. This team's final destiny is yet to be revealed, but they have worked their way through a difficult first month unscarred, posting a 4-0 record and rising to #3 in both polls.

Several players or groups of players put on clinics in this game: Michael Vick, Lee Suggs, the Tech offensive line, and (unnervingly so) the Boston College offensive line. I'll take a look at the most popular discussions that popped up in the message board post game and give you my opinion on what happened in this one.

In just 15 games, Michael Vick has put together a collection of highlight-reel moments that eclipses what Al Clark and Jim Druckenmiller did in the previous four years combined. I thought I had become jaded to Vick's wizardry, to the point where I couldn't be blown away by anything he could do.

Wrong. His 82-yard touchdown scramble in the fourth quarter, the clip that filled the airwaves Saturday night, actually had me laughing out loud, giggling with glee at what I had just seen. Never mind that Vick is a Hokie -- if he played for Oregon, I would have had the same reaction.

Vick continues to string together amazing plays, and he is a joy to watch. He doesn’t even have to do anything spectacular -- I get a kick just out of watching the acceleration he flashed on his 26-yard TD run early in the game. He just flat blew the BC players off the field. Vick's in a time warp, moving 1.5 times faster than the norm.

But this year, most of Vick's highlights seem to be accomplished with his feet, not his arm. And as the season wears on, it becomes apparent that his accuracy on the deep ball in particular is not what it was last year. He has repeatedly missed Andre Davis open downfield, and Davis, who averaged an astounding 27.5 yards per catch last year while scoring 9 touchdowns, has merely 116 yards on 9 catches this year, with just 1 TD through 4 games. And you can't blame Davis's diminished production on double-teaming by the opposition -- he has been open often, and Vick has simply missed him deep a number of times.

Last year, against Rutgers and Boston College, Vick went 22-25 for 538 yards, with 7 TD's and 0 INT's. This year, his production against those two teams fell off to 15-35 for 181 yards, with 1 TD and 1 INT.

Can you expect the guy to go 22-25 all the time? Lord, no. Can you expect him to average 24.5 yards per completion, like he did against BC and Rutgers last year? Of course not. But there's no denying that this year, the long ball simply isn't there for Vick. And the truth is, he's often misfiring without even being pressured.

It's interesting to note that despite some awesome passing games last year (Rutgers, BC, and UVa), Vick only averaged 184 yards passing in the ten regular season games that he played. This year, his passing yardage is down to a paltry 118 yards per game, with two of those games coming against Akron and Rutgers, teams he would ordinarily run up good statistics against.

So there's no denying that Vick's passing production is way down, particularly from a yardage standpoint. And a lot of the problem is his own inaccuracy, not drops by the receivers.

He also is showing some signs of not being sharp mentally. Twice against BC, he turned the wrong way on running plays. One resulted in a Vick fumble that was recovered by Tech (Suggs scored on a 24-yard run on the next play), and the other resulted in a Vick option pitch into open space, because the running backs had gone the other way (BC scored in three plays off the turnover).

I think you're seeing signs of the infamous sophomore slump in Vick. As is common with sophomores, he no longer flies solely on instinct, like he did as a freshman. And Coach Bustle has been saying since last spring that he has given Michael more responsibility in the offense, more plays to run, more wrinkles, etc.

The result is a sophomore brain that is clogged with more detail and gets a little more distracted than the freshman brain did. This is commonly called "thinking too much," and it manifests itself in wrong turns and poor execution of plays that used to come easily.

None of which is cause for wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments. The condition is usually temporary, though it may last for an entire year. You're watching a quarterback grow and learn, that's all. Michael Vick is learning what does and doesn't work for him, and he's going to have his "off days." Now that his fun-time freshman year is over, it's time to continue to study, learn, and get better.

Another thing you have to remember is the incredible amount of hype surrounding him. Every talking head who has met him raves on and on about how humble he is, and how he is still "himself," and all that may be true. But 57 million interviews and photo sessions, and constant hounding for autographs when he goes out to buy groceries or fill up the car with gas, have got to be taking their toll.

Michael Vick is a mere 20 years and 3 months old, and in the last 14 months, his world has been turned upside down. In a way, that's good for him, and one day, he will be a millionaire. But sometimes I wonder if he lies in bed at night and just wishes for a little peace.

On the field, the beautiful thing about Vick is that even his off days can result in dominating performances. He struggled mightily passing on Saturday, but that was lost in all the hubbub of a 210-yard rushing performance, including not just the highlight-film 82-yarder, but a handful of option keepers in which he made the BC defenders look as if they were running in a swimming pool.

Vick's passing numbers are down from last year, but his running numbers most definitely are not. Last year, he had 585 net yards rushing and scored 8 rushing TD's. This year, in just four games, he already has 429 yards rushing, is averaging 10.5 yards per carry, and has 6 TD's.

In short, I wish he was throwing the deep ball better, but I'll take it anyway I can get it with Michael Vick. And as an observer and fan, I'm perfectly willing to let him make mistakes and have off days without going nuts about it.

Speaking of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, many fans were troubled by the fact that BC blitzed over and over and over, and Tech didn't appear to adjust or make them pay for it. Fans were calling for screen passes, quick slants, and other blitz-foilers.

Given that, I watched my game tape and specifically looked at the play-calling in the face of the BC blitz. In the first half alone, I saw a screen pass, a flanker screen, a curl route to Emmett Johnson, two rollouts, and a quarterback draw. Let's take them one by one:

Screen pass: the play I saw wasn't a true screen, because the offensive linemen did not go out with the backs. Vick had Suggs and Ferguson flanking him in the shotgun formation. BC blitzed, Suggs floated out left, and Ferguson floated out right. Vick looked to Suggs, and despite the fact that Suggs was open, did not throw the ball to him. Vick tucked, ducked, juked, and got sacked. Again, this was not a true screen pass play, but Vick did have the option to pass to a wide-open Suggs, and he didn't throw it.

Flanker screen: since about 1998, this has become the most useless play in the VT playbook and should be thrown out and never run again. After nearly a decade of Tech flanker screens, the oppositions' defensive coordinators, particularly those in the Big East, know it well, and it just never works for Tech anymore. As a matter of fact, opposing defensive backs are absolutely parked on it these days, infiltrating the backfield and covering the standing-still receiver like a blanket.

I can't tell you how many times I saw Al Clark, and now Michael Vick, look to throw that flanker screen, only to see a DB between himself and the receiver, waiting for the pass. In that case, the Tech QB pulls the ball down and runs, usually unsuccessfully.

Tech set up the flanker screen once in the first half of this game, and sure enough, BC read it and shut it down. As I said, it's time for this play to be ripped out of the playbook. Its day in the sun is over.

Curl route: completed to Emmett Johnson for a short gain.

Two rollouts: Tech rolled the pocket out twice that I can remember in the first half. On the first one, Vick set up and threw unmolested (and to be honest, I can't remember if the pass was complete or not). On the second one, Vick almost got killed, getting blindsided by BC's Sean Guthrie. By the way, kudos to Guthrie for hitting Vick cleanly, instead of burying his helmet in Vick's back.

Quarterback draw: Vick ran a draw and got an 8-yard gain up the middle late in the second quarter. It wasn't apparent that it was a draw, because the heavy BC rush obscured Vick's intent, but I ran the play back several times, and it was definitely a draw. Vick never looked for a receiver, and he ran straight up the middle before he was truly pressured by the rush.

So there you have it. Rickey Bustle most definitely took steps to thwart the blitz. He called the plays I described above, and late in the game, Vick took the ultimate step, squirting up the middle on a heavy blitz and motoring 82 yards down an empty field for the TD. VT also thwarted the blitz by running Suggs up the middle through wide-open holes into an often-vacant BC secondary.

If you're looking for a quick slant across the middle, then you go right ahead and look. I don't think that play exists in the Tech offense, and I'm positive that Frank Beamer isn't keen on passing short into the middle of the field. The Hokies are strictly a to-the-corners or deep-downfield team when it comes to passing. The only exception to this is an occasional curl route, but never do the Hokies deliver the ball to a moving receiver 5-10 yards down the middle of the field.

Worry about the blitz all you want, folks, the simple fact is, it didn't work for Boston College. Tech handled it just fine, ringing up BC for 48 points. If you blitz Tech, you're playing with fire, and the Hokies demonstrated that in no uncertain terms. If Vick was throwing the ball better, the damage would have been even worse.

Boston College rushed 40 times for 213 yards (5.3 yards per carry), and they often did it with ease. They had great success running right up the middle, right at Tech's attack defense. By my count, Boston College only had 4 rushes for negative yardage, and 2 of those runs were a sweep and an option, which tend to be less successful against Tech's defense than running right up the gut.

So why the poor performance on run defense by Tech? I watched my tape and reran play after play after play to analyze Tech's run defense. Here's what I came up with.

First of all, the Boston College offensive line put on a clinic, both in strategy and execution. They often double-teamed Pugh and Beasley, Tech's two best defensive linemen, taking them out of the play. Their tackles manhandled Tech's defensive ends most of the game, with just a few exceptions. And their linemen and fullbacks got excellent penetration into the Tech secondary and almost never missed blocks on the Tech linebackers and defensive backs.

Give the opponent credit here. BC just flat did a great job blocking. On one play early in the game, the left side of their offensive line drove the Tech defensive linemen five yards off the ball, right into the Tech linebackers, clogging up the middle and opening up a huge lane to the left for running back Cedric Washington, who picked up 19 yards.

Secondly, Tech's front seven got outplayed. The Tech defensive ends in particular got their lunch eaten without putting up much of a fight. The Tech linebackers often got blocked and rarely slipped off the blocks, forcing defensive backs to make tackles in run support.

More so than any other game Tech has played this year, their defensive line and linebackers simply got controlled at the point of attack. Had Tech not been the beneficiary of a deluge of points from the Hokie offense, Boston College could have very well taken the game over and controlled it with their running attack.

BC's passing game was a miserable failure, to the point where they insisted on running the ball, even when they fell behind by three scores in the second half. The Hokies didn’t pressure Hasselbeck well (0 sacks in the game, according to every stat report I've seen), and the Hokie defense was saved by a good performance from the defensive backs in the passing game.

Tech's third-quarter goal line stand was the Hokies' third in their last three games at Chestnut Hill. The 1996 team did it, the 1998 team had a key goal line stand, and after Vick threw an interception at the Tech 11 yard line in this game, the 2000 Hokie defense completed the hat trick.

BC started with first and goal at the Tech one yard line and actually lost yardage. They ran three running plays, which were stopped by Cory Bird, Jake Houseright, and Cory Bird (but the plays were really stopped at the line, where the defensive tackles and ends dug in and got great penetration). The fourth play, a fade route to the end zone, was broken up by Ronyell Whitaker (who, incidentally, has a new nickname, as far as I'm concerned: Jawbone).

• Lee Suggs now has 9 rushing touchdowns through 4 games and is bearing down on the Tech season record of 13. The record is held by four players: Tommy Francisco (1966), James Barber (1972), Ken Oxendine (1996), and Shyrone Stith (1999). If Tech's offensive line keeps blocking this well, the record is toast.

• Speaking of the offensive line, their run-blocking performance against Boston College is one of the most dominating performances I've ever seen. It's rare that a tailback like Suggs can rush off-tackle and barely get touched on his way to the end zone, but it has happened multiple times this year.

• While on the topic of blocking, Jarrett Ferguson is a blocking machine, and so is Andre Davis. The offensive line takes care of the first wave, and Jarrett and Andre clean up downfield.

• Boston College may have given up a few big plays to Vick on the option, but they also defended it well numerous times. On many occasions, BC had somebody in Vick's face after just a few steps.

• Carter Warley has a cannon of a leg. He rung up at least three touchbacks. Tech was offside on one kickoff, and after the refs moved the ball back five yards, Warley kicked it 8 yards deep into the end zone. All this is on a day with little or no wind.

• Boston College played with class. They didn't take any cheap shots at the Hokies, not even when Vick presented his back to Sean Guthrie on the rollout that I talked about earlier. I have always thought that Boston fans are classy, as well (except for the one that called my VT sweatshirt "ugly" on my trip up there in 1996).

Ah, yes, it's "reminesce-about-the-1998-upset" week in Blacksburg. Expect to hear many references to Black Saturday as this week's game approaches. Fortunately, I didn't see that game, as I was sitting in the stands in Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley that day in 1998, watching Penn State slap Purdue around.

The game is scheduled for noon, and at this point, all we know about TV coverage is that the game will be on either ESPN2 or ESPN+. I think it hinges on the baseball playoffs, or something like that. If they're over, then won't be on ESPN2, so Tech/Temple will be. If they're not over, they'll take up ESPN2, and the Tech/Temple game will be farmed out to ESPN+.

Temple is currently 3-2 after losing a close 29-24 game against WVU last Thursday. The Owls other loss was a close one to Maryland, and Temple is not too far away from being 5-0 at this point. The descriptive adjective for the Owls has been changed from "lowly" to "much-improved."

Tech will get to find out how much improved on Saturday. I'll return with a preview later this week, probably Thursday.

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