What Went Wrong in Clemson's Frustrating Loss to Virginia Tech

The Clemson Tigers knocked themselves out of the driver’s seat for ACC Championship contention on Saturday night, falling to the Virginia Tech Hokies 20-16 at Memorial Stadium to lose their second conference game of the season.

Virginia Tech scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, capped off with a five-yard touchdown to tight end Luke Reynolds, to take a lead with 1:44 left in the game. Clemson was unable to respond, with quarterback Tait Reynolds sacked on the final offensive play of hte game to seal the loss.

On the Hokies’ drive on their final drive of the game, several penalties on Clemson’s end extended the game. Elliot Washington II had an unnecessary roughness call on Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer to offset a holding penalty. Jerome Carter III and Washington were also later called on pass interference calls to continue to move the chains in the opposite direction.

The Tigers had a slow start, but used a complementary third quarter to take the lead Clemson scored on all three of its drives coming out of the half to spark life into a group that looked dormant in the first 30 minutes. 

After that, head coach Dabo Swinney wouldn’t see his group score again.

From there, head coach Dabo Swinney saw his defense forced a season-high six sacks on Grunkemeyer, only allowing 234 total yards to limit the Hokies’ attack. However, they would charge when it mattered most, and the go-ahead touchdown was enough for the offense to sputter out.

Clemson’s first touchdown of the game came after the defense pinned the Hokies back to their own 1-yard line with two sacks. After six plays, Reynolds called his own number on a designed run, scampering into the end zone from 16 yards to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.

The score was the true freshman’s first rushing touchdown of his career. Reynolds would only finish with 153 passing yards on 20 completions, adding 63 rushing yards. 

When the Tigers were able to get the Hokies off the field, momentum swayed in their direction. However, Virginia Tech scored on every drive that had 10 plays or more. The final touchdown drive was an 11-play, 69-yard drive that spanned just under five minutes. 

Now, the Tigers need to win out for even a chance to make the ACC Championship, the only chance to make the College Football Playoff. Clemson only needs two wins to make a bowl game this postseason, but there will be only Power Four opponents the rest of the way. 

Clemson will be back in action next Saturday night in Tallahassee, Florida. The Tigers will face the Florida State Seminoles at 7 p.m. from Doak Campbell Stadium.