Virginia Tech Offense Unable To Overcome Injuries Against No. 23 Clemson

Bradley Winterling

Staff Writer

November 9, 2024

BLACKSBURG – It’s been a season of ups and downs for Virginia Tech.

The Hokies offense remained scoreless until a late fourth-quarter touchdown on Saturday night at Lane Stadium as No. 23 Clemson (7-2, 6-1 ACC) rallied with 24 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Hokies (5-5, 3-3) 24-14.

“Obviously disappointed,” Tech head coach Brent Pry said after the game. “A ton of credit to Clemson — good football team. They rebounded well, we unfortunately didn't. There’s some good things out there that we did, but too many mistakes, untimely penalties, dropped balls, busted calls defensively, turnovers, you just can't beat a good team making the mistakes that we made.”

It’s important to note that Tech quarterback Kyron Drones and running back Bhayshul Tuten each played banged up after missing the loss against Syracuse a week ago. Neither of them were able to finish the game. 

After a Tech three-and-out to start, Cade Klubnik and the Tigers offense posted a nice drive on their first possession of the game, converting three third downs, but Klubnik ended up throwing a jump ball interception to Jaylen Jones at the four-yard line, ending a 15-play, 43-yard Clemson drive that resulted in zero points. 

The Hokies took over deep in their own territory and kicked off the drive with an explosive 23-yard completion from Drones to tight end Benji Gosnell down the sideline, but Tech was unable to find any other production, punting on third-and-eight after moving the sticks just once. 

Clemson responded with another promising march, getting down to Tech’s 26-yard line, but head coach Dabo Swinney elected to go for it on fourth-and-two, where Klubnik was sacked by Cole Nelson for a loss of 10. 

It was Tech’s fifth consecutive stop on a fourth down attempt this season. 

After the turnover on downs, Drones was stripped by T.J. Parker while trying to step up in the pocket and scramble. Clemson recovered and took over at the Tech 36-yard line. 

Clemson’s offense was then facing a third-and-one at the Tech 27-yard line, as Klubnik ran to the right and Tech’s Keonta Jenkins took him down for a loss of two, forcing a Nolan Hauser field goal attempt. 

Keyshawn Burgos blocked the kick, and it floated into the arms of freshman Quentin Reddish who sprinted up the left sideline, taking it back 77 yards for six as Lane Stadium erupted, giving the Hokies a 7-0 lead. 

“I thought it was obviously a good play,” Pry said. “We've worked hard at that. They've had some issues. We wanted to see if we couldn't capitalize on it. Fortunately, we were able to.”

After three consecutive punts, two being from Clemson, including a 19-yard pooch punt from Klubnik, the Hokies had a chance to add to their lead, taking over at their own 25 with 3:06 to play in the first half. 

A defensive holding penalty on Clemson and a Tuten 22-yard catch and run later, the Hokies were down to the Clemson 28-yard line. 

Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen then dialed up a trick play: a double pass that went back to Drones. But, it was almost intercepted and resulted in a nine-yard loss. 

The Hokies had to settle for a 55-yard field, and kicker John Love was short. 

Tech’s defense was able to force a Clemson three-and-out and went into the break with a 7-0 lead.

It was the Hokies’ first time shutting out the Tigers in a first half since 1998 — and their fifth consecutive first-half shutout this season — but it was a different Clemson offense in the second half. 

Receiving the ball first out of the break, the Tigers quickly got their first score on the board on an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Klubnik to Cole Turner down the seam. 

After a Tech punt on their it’s first possession of the second half, Clemson found itself with a third-and-seven situation at the Tech 41-yard line. 

Cornerback Mansoor Delane came screaming off the edge and had a free shot at Klubnik, who miraculously spun away and found a wide open T.J. Moore who made a man miss and trotted into the end zone. 

It was a play that sort of sums up the season for the Hokies thus far. 

“Credit to the quarterback,” Pry said.”He's tough, he can run, but he's also strong. … We don't get him on the ground, but we come out of coverage. Sometimes those guys elude the sack. You gotta stay disciplined in your coverage. Made it too easy for him right there.”

After another punt from each team, Tech started putting a nice drive together as Drones lobbed up a ball to Da’Quan Felton, who made a nice catch on the sideline for a 30-yard gain. 

Drones then tried going right back to him, which resulted in an incredible one-handed interception by Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton, sucking the life out of another hopeful Tech drive. 

Clemson drove right down the field with some nice runs from running back Phil Mafah, and scored another touchdown, as Klubnik found Jake Brinningstool in the flat who broke a few tackles and found his way into the end zone, giving Clemson a 21-7 lead with 13:08 to play. 

The star running back never really had an eye opening play on Saturday for the Tigers, but he was the backbone of the offense, finishing with 128 rushing yards on 26 attempts. 

Klubnik had a solid game as well, going 16-of-34 with 211 yards, three touchdown passes, and one interception. 

For Tech, backup quarterback Collin Schlee ended up coming for a banged up and struggling Drones later in the fourth. 

Clemson intercepted Schlee on his second drive, with Tigers linebacker R.J. Mickens making a nice play over the middle. The Tigers kicked a field goal and went up 24-7 with just over five minutes left. 

Schlee and the Tech offense were at least able to end it on a positive note, as the backup quarterback scrambled around and found Ayden Greene for a 14-yard touchdown with under two minutes to play. 

The Hokies finished with just 228 total yards of offense, averaging 3.9 yards per play. 

Tech has a much needed bye week ahead of them before they travel to Durham next Saturday to take on Duke. They will hope to have a healthy Drones and a healthy Tuten to close out the final two games of the season. 

“Obviously the goal here at Virginia Tech is always going to be to get to the championship game,” Pry said. “And we've clearly fallen short, but there's a lot of things that our group can be proud of, and we talk about finishing. We need to be better there. We have a great opportunity to do that.

“Let's get to postseason play. Let's continue to try and be the team that we can be.”