Syracuse drops elite status in 1999 after Michael Vick chooses Va. Tech over SU
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Editor’s note: Syracuse football has 6 wins in its last 19 games. Facing the struggles of the present, The Daily Orange took a look back at some of hard times of the past in part one of this series.
A decision that would alter the immediate future of Syracuse football came from a man by the name of Michael Vick.
In the mid- to late ‘90s, while former SU quarterback Donovan McNabb was leading the Orange to Big East Championships, BCS bowl games and a 35-14 record over four years, Vick was making waves and turning heads in his home state of Virginia with Syracuse in pursuit of his talents.
He was the speedy quarterback with the moves of a running back and a cannon for an arm, the freak of nature who complied 4,846 yards and 43 touchdowns passing and another 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground during his high school career.
“The flip of the wrist that you all see and everybody talks about, I saw it in the ninth grade,” Tommy Reamon, Vick’s high school coach, said. “And I said right then that he was special.”
Back in Syracuse, McNabb, the most successful quarterback in Syracuse history, had tallied a total of 35 wins in his four seasons and was the second pick in the 1999 NFL Draft.
He had also recruited Vick to be his heir-apparent in orange.
Vick, who had narrowed his list of potential colleges down to Syracuse and Virginia Tech, elected to stay close to home with the Hokies. The Orange rode a combination of Madei Williams and Troy Nunes at quarterback to a 7-5 record and a victory in the Music City Bowl in 1999.
But a 62-0 drubbing at the hands of Vick and Virginia Tech that October rekindled thoughts of what could have been. Vick’s decision left Syracuse with two capable quarterbacks, but without a true successor to McNabb.
“We just didn’t have that powerful star position where he could change the game or change the outcome of a game for you,” said former Syracuse fullback Kyle Johnson.
The date was Nov. 14, 1998. Vick was a freshman redshirting at Virginia Tech, as was Nunes for Syracuse. Williams was the backup to McNabb, and all three watched as the senior’s last-second throw across his body from the 14-yard line to tight end Stephen Brominski led Syracuse to a 28-26 victory over the No. 16 Hokies in the Carrier Dome.
“He doesn’t come along, in college football at least, very often,” Nunes said. “… With Donovan, they could call whatever they wanted sometimes and he would make a play … He just did things that, to be honest, I couldn’t do and that most people couldn’t do.”
The same could be said for Vick, whose skill set was similar to McNabb’s and would have fit well into Syracuse’s offensive scheme of drop-back passes and rollouts, Johnson said.
But Vick’s decision to stay close to home was in part because he wanted to make his own name, Reamon said.
“We always heard he just didn’t want to be the next Donovan McNabb,” Johnson said. “He wanted to separate himself and be his own man.”
So SU instead turned to its other options. Williams had sat two seasons behind McNabb with the plan of learning the offense.
In 1999, he was set to become the starter, but a compound fracture and dislocation in his left hand suffered with just two weeks remaining in fall camp opened the door for Nunes, who worked his way up the depth chart next to Williams, where the two ended up sharing snaps.
“It was his two series to my one for the first couple games,” Williams said.
Syracuse opened the season 5-1 and shot up the polls to a No. 16 ranking. On Oct. 16, Syracuse rolled into Blacksburg, Virginia to face Vick and a No. 4-ranked undefeated Virginia Tech team. After watching from the sidelines as McNabb lead the comeback one year prior, it was Nunes’ and Williams’ time to step under the lights against the Hokies.
But Vick ran circles around Syracuse.
“Michael Vick literally put on a show,” Williams said. “It was the Michael Vick experience. He did some things to our defense that I don’t think anybody else could have conceived.”
The 62-point shutout was SU’s worst loss since 1912.
The Orange went on to drop three of its last four and limped into postseason play.
“It was the worst loss I’ve ever experienced of any sport of my entire life,” Johnson said. “And the way they dominated was just awful. We lost our mojo for most of the rest of the year.”
Syracuse and then-head coach Paul Pasqualoni continued to use the two-quarterback system, alternating Nunes and Williams drive-to-drive and electing to go with the hot hand.
“It’s one of those things where you’re pressing,” Williams said, “you put the pressure on yourself to do well and sometimes you don’t perform as well as you should because sometimes you are looking over your shoulders.”
While McNabb did it all on the field — throw long, short and run — Syracuse set up different game plans for Nunes and Williams, who both had different strengths.
Williams said he had the stronger arm and was called upon when Syracuse wanted to air it out down the field. Nunes on the other hand, according to Williams, was more agile, swift and creative. He got the nod for high-percentage passes.
And all the while, Vick continued his march through college football, picking up highlight reel plays and setting conference records.
“It was more or less like both of our skills combined had to be McNabb,” Williams said.
SU’s Music City Bowl win was a step down from the two consecutive BCS bowls the Orange made in the two seasons prior.
“Obviously we had bigger goals,” Nunes said.
The skill Syracuse had in McNabb and the skill it tried to recreate with Nunes and Williams was just as similarly what the Orange recruited in Vick, and the success he and the Hokies were enjoying 569 miles away was undeniable.
The near SU commit went on to lead Virginia Tech to an undefeated regular season, a No. 2 national ranking and a berth in the BCS Championship game against Florida State. Vick finished third in the Heisman voting and led the nation in passing efficiency as a redshirt freshman.
In 2001, he would be drafted number one overall by the Atlanta Falcons.
Sixteen years later, Johnson said he wishes he didn’t think about it. But he can’t help it. The thought of Vick slicing through defenses in the Dome and vaulting Syracuse into national contenders makes him wonder what could have been.
“I think … we all do that every now and again,” he said. “Just because he was such a dominant player … I don’t know if we would have won it all but just to have Vick back there, oh my goodness … it would have been very interesting to see that.”
