No. 3 clemson steamrolls Virginia Tech

Chris Hirons

December 6, 2020

BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 3 Clemson had just marched down the field against Virginia Tech, making the defense look foolish, in two minutes and 45 seconds near the end of the first half, and took the lead 17-10.

With the Tigers high-flying offense receiving the second half kick off, Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente played it safe. Clemson had all three timeouts remaining and the Hokies started the last drive of the first half at their own 32-yard-line with 55 seconds remaining on the clock.

Fuente had planned to run the clock out until it zero until Khalil Herbert picked up four yards on his first rush and then bursted to the left sideline, picking up 21 yards, and stopping at Clemson’s 43.

Fuente’s game plan had worked up until that point. The Hokies played it safe all game, staying in the huddle and running down the play clock as much as they could to keep Trevor Lawrence and the rest of the Clemson offense off the field as much as possible.

To that point, Lawrence and his offense could only muster 17 points in the first half due in part because the defense stepped up, playing one of its best halves all season.

“We knew we were right there in it,” Tech tight end James Mitchell said. “We were executing our plan, what we wanted to do. We were doing a good job of that, down seven points at the half. You really couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

Fuente’s plan worked until it didn’t. Not playing aggressive to end the half killed Virginia Tech’s momentum as the offense was oh, so close — just a yard away — from tying the game to end the half.

After Khalil Herbert picked up the aforementioned 21 yards on the ground, Fuente called a timeout with two seconds left in the first half. He allowed Braxton Burmiester, who entered and replaced Hendon Hooker after he fumbled the snap on Tech’s opening drive, to let it fly to close out the half.

The Hail Mary attempt almost worked. It bounced in and out of a defenders hands until Raheem Blackshear caught the tipped pass around the four-yard-line. Quickly, he was engulfed by three Tiger defenders as he tried to fight to extend his arm across the goal line.

He came up a yard short. A yard short from tying the game before the half. A yard short of seizing the momentum heading into half time. A yard short of what could have led to a Virginia Tech upset.

“They had three timeouts also. They ran through us like we weren’t even out there,” Fuente said after the game. “My first thought was do not roll our tails out there and throw away three incompletions and give them the ball right back. We ran the ball and busted one run and took a chance to throw it in the end zone.

“I’d do it again playing these guys. If we were playing somebody else in a different situation, then you can play it a bunch of different ways. When you watch those guys and they have their timeouts, the first thing is not having your defense take the field again with Trevor Lawrence and all that comes with that. So we ran the ball, popped one out and took a shot in the end zone.”

Virginia Tech’s (4-6, 4-5 ACC) loss to Clemson (9-1, 8-1 ACC) guarantees the Hokies’ first losing season since 1992 and with the elimination of three ACC-bid bowl games this season, it’s fair to think that the Hokies will miss their first bowl game in 27 years.

Saturday’s loss gives the Hokies their fourth consecutive loss for the second time since Fuente arrived in Blacksburg in 2015. To put it in perspective, Frank Beamer didn’t lose four consecutive games in his final 23 seasons in Blacksburg.

“If you would have told me this was going to be our record at the beginning of the season, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Tech safety Divine Deablo said. “Of course we’re down. We’ve just got to keep going. We’ve got one more game left and we’ve got to finish strong.”

For a half, though, Virginia Tech gave the Tigers a fight — something that most other teams that have played Clemson over the past four-or-so years can’t say.

But after the momentum-killing stop, Virginia Tech fell apart.

First, it was a Burmiester fumble midway through the third quarter that allowed Clemson to recover the fumble at Virginia Tech’s 12-yard line. Lawrence then took a seven yard option that ended in a house call, his second of the night, to extend Clemson’s lead 24-10.

The next possession, Virginia Tech’s offense went backwards as Clemson forced it into a quick three-and-out. Burmiester, though, fell to the ground after his left knee bent awkwardly, forcing Hooker to come off the bench after he had been relieved himself.

After Tech forced a three-and-out, Hooker fumbled his first snap since replacing Burmiester, which allowed Clemson’s Derion Kendrick to complete a 66 yard scoop-and-score as the Hokies fell into a deeper hole, 31-10.

The injuries continued to pile up for the Hokies as Hooker, who had looked cold and hurt all night, left for the locker room early in the fourth quarter. After Quincy Patterson announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal, Fuente had no other scholarship quarterback to turn to other than redshirt freshman Knox Kadum, who had just been running the scout team earlier in the week.

On Kadum’s first drive, the Hokies ran the ball with trusted running back Khalil Herbert, who hit the 1,000 rushing yard mark, on six of the nine plays. Kadum only threw the ball across the line of scrimmage once, which resulted in the ball falling a few yards short of his intended receiver.

To Kadum’s credit, he bounced back and finished the game four-of-six with 68 yards, though, three-fourths of those yards came on a screen pass to Jalen Holston.

For the Hokies, the loss just about kills their chances at a bowl game and the excitement that the fan base built up heading into the season.

Tech will have to redeem itself on the field, and with the fan base, next week as it looks to take the Commonwealth Cup back from Virginia.