Both teams are performing well against the spread going 3-1 this season while entering this matchup a flawless 4-0 overall. The Tigers have been only briefly challenged since. Developing quarterbacks is something they’ve specialized in. Tech had converted only 2-of-8 third downs. The Hokies can still win the division despite trailing Coastal leaders No. 14 Miami (3-0, 1-0) and unranked Georgia Tech (3-1, 2-0).
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Clemson needed only three plays to score this time.
The lead expanded to 17-0 on the opening drive of the second half as Troy moved 75 yards in six plays, culminating in a man-up 1-yard Jordan Chunn plunge on fourth-and-goal.
Clemson put together a balanced offensive attack while the Tigers’ defense kept the Hokies’ offense off balance, primarily by pushing the offensive line back several steps immediately after the ball was snapped. That set up a field goal and 3-0 lead. He’s had a top-10 defense with the Tigers every year since 2014, when Clemson was No. 1 in the country, producing stars like defensive ends Vic Beasley and Shaq Lawson, tackle Grady Jarrett, linebacker Ben Boulware and a current stable of defensive linemen that rank among the best in the country.
Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC) has won its last four meetings with the Hokies, and has already notched a pair of impressive victories, beating No. 13 Auburn 14-6 and No. 17 Louisville 47-21.
In Week 3 at Louisville, they drove 49 yards in 2:49 and nailed a 49-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first half to go up 19-7 on the host Cardinals.
As for Virginia Tech, its College Football Playoff hopes may still be alive, as an undefeated finish to the regular season could earn it another crack at Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
Tech then forced a punt. They were in Hokies territory on the next play and to the 3 thanks to pass completions of 27 and 16 yards. The coaches called for a boneheaded fake field goal in the second half that had minimal chance of success and fooled nobody. Virginia Tech would get the bulk of its points in the fourth quarter, but admittedly, that was garbage time.
The Hokies will have their work cut out for them if they expect to pull off an upset this time against the ultra-talented Tigers. He averaged 317.8 total yards a game (144 total yards rushing, 1,127 passing) with 11 touchdowns passing and one rushing.
On Saturday night in Blacksburg, Virginia, Clemson transitioned from being the defending champions to championship contenders. Virginia Tech’s offense never found a rhythm on Saturday night, and made too many mistakes vs.an explosive Clemson defense. And Virginia Tech was just getting started. “I think we really wanted to whack-tackle him, instead of just tackling him, because he’s a quarterback”. “We are 60 minutes here”.
“They’ve got proven track records”. But if they keep it close through the first half, this could be a very, very tense game late in the game. But they were also scoring touchdowns. The computer projects a 40.4-30.8 Clemson victory. That would typically result in a tight win, one way or the other. It’s unbelievable how the two teams have separated themselves so much.
The Hokies generated a little momentum early in the fourth quarter, only to give it right back.
O’Daniel collected the turnover after wide receiver Henri Murphy saw quarterback Josh Jackson’s pass go through his hands and bounce off his helmet. On passes thrown at least 12 yards downfield, he was 5-for-10 for 115 yards.
Tech could have used those players in their prime, along with former All-Americans like Corey Moore, Jim Pyne and Jake Grove. “I thought that drive and obviously the busted coverage, those were two critical series in the game”.
“It’s like we were going to throw to Mike Williams”, Venables said of Clemson in 2016.
This is where things stand for Clemson, which dismissed a third top-15 opponent in September – the first team to ever do so – and toppled another ACC challenger in utterly demoralizing fashion and, in the process, showcased that perhaps this year’s version of the Tigers is better still, even more dynamic, even scarier than the Deshaun Watson-led group that played for the past two national championships.
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No one had ever done that.
