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A Closer Look at Marcus Vick's Passing Efficiency
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

It has been well-documented throughout the week that Marcus Vick is now ranked second in the country in passing efficiency with a rating of 179.8. Vick trails only Drew Stanton, Michigan State’s senior signal caller. Considering Vick’s lack of experience and the fact that he missed an entire season, it is amazing that he has been able to be so efficient with the football.

Here are Vick's stats and pass efficiency rating for VT's five games so far:

Having a good passing rating depends on a number of statistics, including completion percentage, touchdowns, interceptions and yards per attempt. Let’s take a look at the Top Ten quarterbacks in the nation, as rated by passing efficiency, and see where Vick stacks up in these major categories.

The Virginia Tech coaching staff has stressed to Vick the importance of holding onto the ball. Apparently he has been listening, as he has thrown only one interception. No quarterback ranked in the Top Ten for passing efficiency has thrown more than four interceptions on the season. Vick is tied with Paul Pinegar, quarterback of Fresno State, for the fewest interceptions.

If you want to take that into percentages, it would look like this. Only 1.1% of Vick’s passes have been intercepted this year. The next best mark is Bowling Green’s Omar Jacobs at 1.25%. No player in the Top Ten has an interception percentage greater than 3.08%. These quarterbacks are experts at taking care of the football.

Vick also has nine touchdown passes, which ranks in a tie for sixth of the Top Ten players. However, no one in the Top Ten possesses as impressive a touchdown to interception ration as Vick, whose ratio is 9-to-1. Omar Jacobs is the closest with a ratio of 8.5-to-1. So while the Hokies don’t throw the ball a lot and Vick doesn’t rack up a lot of yards, his impressive touchdown to interception ratio separates him from the field.

Yards per attempt is another statistic that factors into the ratings. Marcus Vick ranks fifth out of the Top Ten quarterbacks with 9.67 yards per attempt. Remember, this is a different stat than yards per completion. Vick hasn’t been completing a lot of passes for big yardage. He’s just completing a lot of short and intermediate routes, with some big gains sprinkled in. His high completion percentage makes his yards per attempt high.

We heard throughout the offseason that Marcus Vick’s accuracy was amazing and that he had an uncanny ability to put the ball where only his receiver can catch it. Thus far that has proved to be the case. Vick’s completion percentage is an outstanding 68.13%, which ranks fifth among the Top Ten quarterbacks.

Let’s take a look at where each of the Top Ten quarterbacks ranks when compared to each other. Remember, these rankings don’t include players ranked outside of the Top Ten.

As you can see, Vick stacks up very well with the rest of the top quarterbacks in the nation. Another point that can be made about Vick is that he plays in an offense that focuses on running the football, whereas the majority of the other quarterbacks in the above list play for passing offenses. If Vick had more chances to throw, his numbers would be even higher. Of course, the flip side to that would be more throws lead to more interceptions and possibly a lower completion percentage. But with Vick’s accuracy and pocket presence, could you imagine him in the Texas Tech offense? Wow.

In his last three games, Vick has been particularly impressive. In that three game span, Vick is 40-51 (78.4%) for 600 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He wasn’t asked to do very much in the NC State game, plus he was starting for the first time in a hostile environment against a top notch defense. If he had that one to do over again, VT would probably win by more than four points. Against Duke, Vick was 12-19, but had three passes dropped and threw his only interception of the year.

So can Vick get better? I don’t think anyone knows for sure. Sure, sometimes he doesn’t step into his throws. But they get there in a hurry and in perfect position for the receiver nonetheless. He’s probably missed a few checks and protection calls at the line of scrimmage. But from a production standpoint, Vick has been just about as good as you can get.

The Virginia Tech Iraqi Outreach Committee has initiated a program called "Operation Provide Classroom Comfort". The program originally began in 2003 by Major Mark Sherkey and his Field Artillery battery (C/1-377 th FA) in Iraq. The goal of the project is to rebuild schools, transform classrooms into learning environments and provide teachers and students with the tools to facilitate learning.

In the original program, over 2,500 pounds of school supplies were provided for over 2,000 Iraqi students. As words spread about the program, the project continued to grow. Help came in from 26 states. Because of the help that was provided, Maj. Sherkey’s unit was able to develop a good relationship with the local villages.

With the help of Virginia Tech, the project has been reborn. The Virginia Tech Iraqi Outreach Committee was formed on April 28, 2005 and began to plan the effort. With the help of Hokie fans, their goals can be met.

The project will run from October 22 through November 5. There will be a venue for collection at Wal-Mart in Christiansburg, VA for this time period. There will also be seven collection points at Lane Stadium at the Boston College game on Thursday, October 27.

You can help Operation Provide Classroom Comfort by doing any of the following:

• Visit the display at the Christiansburg Wal-Mart and purchase a pre-packaged school supply kit for $10.
• Bring any of the requested school supplies to the Boston College game on October 27. Requested supplies include notebook paper or pads (no spiral), pens, pencils, colored pencils, colored markers, sharpeners, glue and basic art supplies.
• Writing a check. Checks can be written to:

Virginia Tech Foundation
Attention: Operation Provide Classroom Comfort
2000 Kraft Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0354

To find out more information about Operation Provide Classroom Comfort, visit their website.

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-- Will Stewart