Gametime Finalized Between Clemson Tigers vs. Virginia Tech

With all of the Week 7 games finished up, the Clemson Tigers officially know when they’ll kick off from Memorial Stadium next Saturday, getting back to ACC play. 

The Tigers will kickoff with Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. from Memorial Stadium on Oct. 24, being the annual Homecoming game for alumni. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

Going into the week, the time was between that slot and the 7:30 p.m. slot from Death Valley, with that game set to be broadcasted on ESPN2. However, with both teams coming off of a win this past weekend, it make for a matchup between two-loss program so far to start 2026. 

Clemson, of course, is coming off of another FCS win over the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, winning 37-0 in its first shutout since the 2021 season. The Tigers’ rushing attack got the game out of hand on Saturday, rushing for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Two of those came from SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr., while the other was from sophomore tailback Gideon Davidson. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney’s group also forced a turnover, with safety Kylon Griffin taking advantage of the opportunity with a 17-yard scoop-and-score. 

Meanwhile, the Hokies bounced back from a two-game skid with a 34-24 home win over Georgia Tech at home. Virginia Tech was outnumbered in total yards, but still built an early lead that the Yellow Jackets couldn’t erase. 

Some could consider this upcoming game a title-eliminator for the ACC Championship as well. The Hokies enter the contest with two ACC losses, to Pitt and California, and will be too far gone unless chaos assumed to get to the conference championship in the first year under James Franklin.

Meanwhile, Clemson’s last ACC game, a loss to No. 4 Miami, set the team back for a week going into the open date. However, Swinney will look to put his team back on track to maintain a high position in the conference standings. Saturday’s contest begins the first of a five-game ACC stretch for the program, and the Tigers will look to get started on the right foot. 

Swinney has also seen a few of these Virginia Tech players before from Franklin’s team at Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl last season. Franklin was fired in the middle of the season, but he brought some of the pieces that he recruited up there to Blacksburg to build a new culture. 

That starts with quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who finished with 260 yards and two touchdowns in the Bronx, New York, that December day against the Tigers. Swinney will look to limit him and a Hokie offense that can score points in bunches. 

Now, Clemson knows when it will kick off against its next opponent, and the night atmosphere will give the Tigers an advantage next weekend.