Vick Is Dazzling Again

If the Gator Bowl was the last game of quarterback Michael Vick’s career at Virginia Tech, he went out a winner.

Vick threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Lee Suggs ran for three Monday as the No. 6 Hokies defeated No. 16 Clemson, 41-20.

“It felt like the old me out there,” Vick said after passing for 205 yards, running for 19 and being named the game’s most valuable player.

“My ankle was 100% and so I was able to play my best.”

The sophomore quarterback, who is still trying to decide whether to return to the Hokies next season or turn pro, said he’ll use the time between now and the Jan. 12 deadline for declaring for the NFL draft to consider his options.

In a game billed as a quarterback duel between Vick and the Tigers’ Woody Dantzler, both made plenty of dazzling plays, but Vick’s response to an early mistake by the Tigers got the Hokies off to a fast start.

After failing to make a first down on the opening series, Clemson punter Jamie Somaini couldn’t handle a bouncing snap. He finally gained control and tried to run but was tackled for an eight-yard loss at his 23.

On the first play, Vick hit a wide-open Jarrett Ferguson with a bullet down the middle, giving the Hokies a 7-0 lead after just 1:37.

Dantzler completed 15 of 32 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, ran for 81 yards and was hammered repeatedly before leaving after the third quarter. Willie Simmons finished and was hit hard too.

Dantzler had become a near one-man show for the Tigers (9-3) after tailback Travis Zachery broke his foot scoring a touchdown. The 23-yard pass made it 14-7 early in the second quarter but ended Zachery’s day.

“You can move up and down the field against them, but when you get to the 20, they seem to put it in another gear,” Dantzler said of the Hokies.

Virginia Tech (11-1), which played for the national championship last season, led 21-10 at halftime and kept grinding out yards. The Hokies had 211 rushing yards to 88 for the Tigers.