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  Saturday, Sep. 4 1:00pm ET
Virginia Tech 47, James Madison 0
 
  RECAP

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ Redshirt freshman Michael Vick made a spectacular debut as No. 11 Virginia Tech's quarterback Saturday before leaving with a bruised leg and the Hokies made their 1,000th game a laugher, a 47-0 victory over James Madison.

Vick, one of the nation's top newcomers, rushed for three first-half touchdowns, including a dazzling 7-yard scramble that made it 23-0 midway through the second quarter. Vick dove toward the end zone, got hit and upended, his body flipping completely before he landed on his feet a yard into the end zone.

Vick lay on the field for several minutes being attended by trainers before he limped to the sidelines. X-rays showed no break, but Vick sustained a lower left leg contusion and was to be re-evaluated after the game, the school said.

The outcome was decided long before then as the Hokies spoiled Mickey Matthews' first game as coach, outgaining the Dukes 476 to 210.

In his 1 1/2 quarters of play, the left-handed Vick looked capable of living up to his hype as something special. He was 4-of-6 for 110 yards, including a perfectly thrown 60-yarder that Ricky Hall caught with a defender on his back.

Vick also ran 3 yards for the Hokies' first touchdown, scrambled 54 yards up the middle out of a collapsing pocket 2:20 later to make it 14-0 and then finished his much anticipated debut with the acrobatic run and dive for the third score.

The Hokies, who came into this season having gotten 49 touchdowns either from their defense or special teams in Frank Beamer's first 12 seasons as coach, didn't add to those totals. But those unit did grease the way a few times for the offense.

Vick's 54-yard scoring run came two plays after Anthony Midget picked off a deep pass from Dukes quarterback Charles Berry. The touchdown run on which Vick was hurt came after Hall returned a punt 43 yards to the Dukes 11.

Corey Moore also picked up a safety for the Hokies when he tackled Curtis Keaton in the end zone for a 6-yard loss. The tackle came on the first play after the Dukes stopped Shyrone Stith on fourth-and-2 from the Dukes 5.

The defense also turned the Dukes away after a 78-yard run by Keaton in the first quarter set up James Madison with a first-and-goal at the 6. Two sacks and two penalties later, it was third-and-50 from the Dukes 44.

All the early scoring also helped make it a big day for Shayne Graham, whose six extra points and a 32-yard field goal moved him into atop the Big East career scoring list with 273 points. Miami's Dane Prewitt had 272.

James Madison, which had only eight seniors on its two-deep depth chart, never got anything going on offense. Berry was constantly pressured and the running backs, as often as not, were hit before they escaped the backfield.

Keaton finished with 108 yards, but had just 30 on 13 carries apart from the long gainer. As a team, the Dukes rushed for 119 yards and passed for 91.

Stith led the Hokies with 122 yards on 18 carries, backup tailback Andre Kendrick and backup quarterback Dave Meyer scored on 2-yard runs and Davis turned a double-reverse into a 22-yard sprint to the end zone down the sidelines.

 


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Virginia Tech Clubhouse