I was clicking through some archives and articles, and I noticed that in Tech's two scrimmages thus far, although it has been Michael Vick who has garnered all the rave reviews among the freshman quarterbacks, it is Grant Noel who has quietly thrown two lengthy touchdown passes of 39 yards to Terrell Parham (first scrimmage) and 37 yards to Duane Caines (second scrimmage).  Meanwhile, Vick's only touchdown was in a goal line situation, when he completed a 2-yard pass to the tight end.

So it's interesting that while Vick has rightfully been garnering heaps of praise for his strong, accurate arm, Noel has largely gone unmentioned.  I didn't see the pass to Parham, because I didn't attend the first scrimmage, but I was there for the second one, and let me tell you, the pass to Caines, as I mentioned in my report, was pretty.   Noel led him perfectly and hit him on a dead run for a TD.

Grant Noel appears to be an excellent quarterback prospect.  He's got the raw size (6-2, 210), and with a little bit of work in the weight room, he could turn into a 230 pound bull of a quarterback, no problem.  And he's got a strong, accurate arm - I've seen it on film and in person.

And he was recruited into the same class as the #5 quarterback prospect in the country, Michael Vick.

In a different world, if Grant Noel and Michael Vick were both in tenth grade, trying out for the same high school team, they would get an equal look at the quarterback position.  But in today's college football world, recruiting is big news, and as far as recruiting goes, Vick is perceived as a much bigger catch than Noel, despite the fact that Noel is no slouch in his own right.  He was a preseason and postseason All-America pick by PrepStar, who also picked him the #2 quarterback in the Eastern Region.

But Vick comes to Tech with the hype that Noel lacks.  And with the hype comes pressure on the coach to play the superstar recruit.  It didn't help Noel's cause that he committed very early in the recruiting process, before even playing his senior season, whereas Vick held out until almost the bitter end and took visits to several schools, which increased the hype.  And Noel played on a run-oriented team in high school, whereas Vick got to air it out, working with current Warwick senior Andrae Harrison, one of the top receiving prospects in the country.

And whereas most people think that playing in the shadow of Ronald Curry decreased Vick's visibility, I'm not so sure.  I think he may have benefited from it.

So for many Tech fans, Grant Noel is the forgotten man.  Vick has been appointed the savior, and more than likely, he will be Tech's starting quarterback in the fall of 1999.

But you never know.  In the spring of 1995, Al Clark had been tabbed as Maurice DeShazo's successor, but an injury to Clark thrust an almost-unknown quarterback named Jim Druckenmiller into the spotlight, and the rest is Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl history.   So Grant Noel may yet get his shot at the starting quarterback job.  Stay tuned.

• The men's and women's basketball schedules have been posted on www.hokiesports.com.  The women's schedule includes three TV appearances, a school record.  The ladies will appear on ESPN2 in January, plus two Atlantic 10 network appearances.  Everybody loves a winner.  The men's schedule includes home games against Wake Forest, Xavier, GW, Rhode Island, and Temple.

• Football season ticket sales topped 18,000 last week, crushing last year's record of 16,675.  Jim Weaver, as is his tendency, looks ahead when commenting on the new record, saying that we're striving for 20,000, and then 25,000, and then 30,000.  Not this year, mind you ... but as soon as possible.

• Ken Oxendine looks as if he is going to make the Falcons roster, while Will Furrer (St. Louis Rams), Eugene Chung (Cincinnati Bengals), Brian Edmonds (Carolina Panthers), Shawn Scales (San Francisco 49ers), and Michael Stuewe (Detroit Lions) have all been cut.   Surprisingly, Marcus Parker has also been cut by the Bengals, one day after it appeared that he had risen to the top of the fullback depth chart, due to an injury to the normal starter.  Parker may be re-signed to the practice squad.

• I will announce formal plans (including a map) for the HokieCentral tailgate early next week, so look for it then.  Among the contributions was another $250 donation from last year's Generous Anonymous Donor, who got plenty of help this year.  Thanks to everyone who has pitched in.

• GalaxHokie will once again be providing summaries of the Monday night Hokie Hotline radio shows, which begin next Monday, August 31st.  This year, you can go to the message board at www.hokiesports.com and ask (type?) questions during the Hotline, proving that perhaps the Virginia Tech athletic department does too know what the Internet is for.

• Jeff White of the Richmond Times-Dispatch is on vacation this week, so don't curse him when you don't see any Hokie news in the RT-D.  'Course, they could always get someone to fill in ... (don't go there, Will!)

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