By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — There might be a reason for Virginia Tech’s inconsistencies this year on the football field. The simple fact is the Hokies don’t play well away from Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.

Through the first seven games of the season, Virginia Tech (4-3, 2-1 ACC) is 4-0 at Lane Stadium. At home, the Hokies’ defense has been smothering their opponents, holding them to 11 points and 276 yards per game.

But Virginia Tech’s defense has not been so tough away from the friendly confines of Lane Stadium. It’s almost like a different group is on the field when they play away from Blacksburg. The Hokies are 0-3 in road games this year, while the defense is giving up an astonishing 36.7 points and 521.7 yards per game.

“Don’t let the record deceive you,” said Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris, whose offense is averaging 41.3 points and 525.8 yards per game. “This is a very good football team. They are a very good defensive football team. They are playing hard.”

They might be playing hard, but the Hokies are not playing good, at least on the road that is. Two weeks ago, North Carolina racked up 533 yards on Bud Foster’s defense, including 339 yards on the ground. Tar Heel running back Giovani Bernard rushed for 262 yards in UNC’s 48-34 victory.

“It looked like North Carolina’s offensive line won the battle up front and gave their running backs good holes to run through,” Clemson running back Andre Ellington said after watching the film from that game.

North Carolina isn’t the only team to have success running the football on Virginia Tech. Pittsburgh gouged the Hokies for 254 yards on the ground in a 35-17 victory at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. By the way, Clemson is 3-0 at Death Valley this year and is averaging 46.7 points and 541.7 yards per game.

There might be something to having Virginia Tech in Death Valley this week other than the home field advantage.  Even in their two games with No. 13 Clemson last year, the Hokies were again Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

In the first meeting, which happened to be at Lane Stadium, the Tigers rushed for 119 yards, while Ellington was held to 40 yards on 16 carries. In the ACC Championship Game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, Clemson ran for 217 yards, while Ellington rushed for 125, including a 29-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Clemson (5-1, 2-1) finished the ACC Championship game—a 38-10 victory by the way—with 457 total yards, after only netting 323 at Blacksburg two months earlier.

“I don’t know if we so much had our way with them more than we just played well,” Morris said. “We had to earn everything we got, especially up there. We did not play as well up there in the first half as we would have liked to have played.

“A lot of that had to do with them. They are very sound as a defensive team, and when we played them in the championship game, it was kind of the same story. In the first half we were kind of trading punches, but in the second half we were able to hit on some big plays and capitalized on some opportunities.”

But Morris says be cautious on how you evaluate Virginia Tech’s defense this year. He says the Hokie defense is as talented and as well coached as any Bud Foster led unit has ever been In Blacksburg.

Against Duke they showed that. The Blue Devils, who had won four straight prior to last Saturday, netted just 22 yards on the ground. They were sacked five times, and after building a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, they did not come close to scoring the rest of the afternoon in a 41-20 loss.

“If you look at where Virginia Tech is right now and where they were prior to Duke, you can tell after watching the Duke game and breaking it down that this is a different defense as far as the way they are playing,” Morris said. “The effort level is totally different. Coach Foster will have them ready, I can promise you that.”

But will they be road ready? That is the question.