The Hokies travel to Clemson this weekend for what could be the most exciting meeting between the two teams since Dabo Swinney became their head coach, and Tech could never manage to close a two-score gap for the game finishes.
Taking in Some Highlights from the Week
This mid-season week has been relatively quiet for the Hokies and that might have been the best thing for the team. That doesn’t mean people aren’t noticing players for individual notices. Luke Reynolds keeps attracting big attention for his abilities and accomplishments.
Meanwhile Que’Sean Brown is attracting his own level of attention. The Paul Hornung (1960s Green Bay Packers great halfback/returner/everyman) Award notes its player of the week and that’s Q. Brown for his breakout performance against Georgia Tech.
Brown also attracted PFF’s national and ACC team of the week at wide receiver.
Take Some Time, Get a Cup of Coffee…
It’s always interesting to hear Coach Franklin’s Monday presser to get a feel for what the team is up to for the game prep week.
Away Means White Uniforms
It’ looks like the Hokies will be in all white uniforms this weekend. No helmet references have been added but in general when it’s all-whites. But it’s looking like maroon hats for this one.
Staff Predictions
It’s time to put this one on the line. It’s a wince inducing prediction for this one. After Game 1, it wasn’t expected to be a win. Yes, we all knew at the beginning of the season that Dabo Swinney had some serious personnel issues that he is still not using the portal effectively to fix, but it’s Clemson. The rumors are flying and Dabo’s seat is pretty hot at the minute. Clemson is one of the programs looking to get out of the ACC to the greener (as in money and prestige) pastures in the SEC or B1G. To keep up that sort of attractiveness, the Tigers need to keep winning at a high level, and they just haven’t risen to that level in quite a while.
We see the odds and the over/under and those numbers are pretty shocking considering the past performances of these teams. The 2.5-point spread favoring the Tigers at home is nearly a pick ‘em. You can’t argue with Bryan’s take. Virginia Tech football vs. Clemson: Preview, betting odds, how to watch | Gobbler Country It’s pretty simple, folks. Virginia Tech can, absolutely, win this football game.
Bryan Manning
I think the spread is accurate. I think it will be close. Virginia Tech’s defensive weakness (pass defense) matches up with Clemson’s offensive weakness (pass offense). Something will have to give. I never feel good about that for the Hokies. We should all be tired of the Hokies being someone’s “get-right” game. Clemson has two passing touchdowns in six games. Don’t let them get going. I wanna pick the Hokies. I think the offense will have success against a good defense, especially Ethan Grunkemeyer and Luke Reynolds. However, until the Hokies can prove they can win a game like this on the road, I will give the advantage to Clemson in a close one.
Clemson 24, Hokies 21
John Schneider
This one got really hard as the Skipper fired to end the Georgia Tech game. Clemson is 2-1 in the conference, and 4-2 overall. Their offense is just not playing well. Dabo has never found a replacement for “Sunshine”, and he’s starting a Freshman. That doesn’t necessarily make things terrible for Swinney’s crew, but it does present a major weakness because Tech’s defensive line has been doing very well against the run. So, the Hokies need to make the Tigers pass and get heavy pressure on their guy named Reynolds. The trick is though does Brent Pry have the confidence in the struggling secondary to send that much needed extra man against a shaky QB and offensive line? Clemson is always going to put up a stout defense, so the Hokies are going to have to play a tough game, move fast, find gaps and not make mental errors and mistakes (especially because Clemson is an old ACC team and “home cookin’” is not uncommon).
If the Hokies can overcome their reticence to blitz and can move the ball and score against the Tiger defense, this one might be relatively low scoring, but the Hokies can win. I’m going out on a limb, here, without being a homer. I think the Hokies take this one in a modest scoring smashmouth football game.
28-17 Hokies
