CLEMSON – What a difference a week makes.

This time one week ago, Clemson was riding high. The Tigers were fresh off a bye week and getting set to host an unranked Louisville team in a primetime affair at Death Valley. All they needed to do was win to keep their lofty postseason hopes alive.

Instead, this Clemson team was soundly beaten in all three phases, and to be blunt, the Tigers just didn’t look all that prepared. They were outplayed, outcoached and outclassed.

The loss pretty much nixes any hope this team had of making the ACC Championship Game, along with any hopes of returning to the playoff for the first time since 2020. And with the playoff now featuring 12 teams, there’s not even a spot in a NY6 bowl game to play for.

All that to say, we are going to find out a lot about this Clemson team this weekend. We will know exactly what they are made of. Going into Blacksburg and knocking off Virginia Tech won’t be easy, though.

The Hokies are probably better than their 5-4 record would suggest. Virginia Tech’s problem has been finishing. After last week’s overtime loss to Syracuse, the Hokies are now 1-12 in one score games under Brent Pry. And they did not have starting quarterback Kyron Drones or starting running back Bhayshul Tuten in the loss to the Orange.

Both of those players might very well be back on Saturday, and that spells trouble for a Clemson defense that has been terrible when it comes to defending the run. Despite missing last week, Tuten ranks 10th in the country with 951 rushing yards. He has gone over the 100-yard mark in five of his eight games and averages 6.69 yards per carry.

Even worse for Clemson is the fact that Drones is one of those quarterbacks that can torture a defense with his legs and stopping those kinds of players is something the Tigers have struggled with at times.

While the Hokies don’t throw it around a whole lot, they haven’t really had to, seeing as they rush for more than 200 yards per game and Clemson is currently 95th nationally against the run.

When you factor in that DeMonte Capehart is out this week and both Tre Williams and Peter Woods are questionable, I’m not sure this defense is capable of stopping this rushing attack. At least well enough to go in and get a win.

With the team dealing with the injuries up front and the fact that Shelton Lewis is out, maybe we see more three linebacker sets this week. Although, I’m not sure I would bet on it. Wes Goodwin has employed a 4-2-5 base for a large majority of the season, but Dabo Swinney has railed on his defense multiple times during the week. Maybe that is the spark needed to create some change and try something different. To be blunt once more, the time for that was last week while Louisville was eating the Tigers’ lunch.

At the end of the day, I’m not really sure what to expect on Saturday. Swinney did do a really good job of getting his team dialed in a season ago when they were 4-4 and with nothing much left to play for. With four regular season games left, this team now finds itself in a similar spot, even if it does sport a better record.

At this point in the season, I lean towards thinking this defense is exactly who they have showed us they are. I fully expect more issues stopping the run this weekend. And while I do think we see a better overall effort, I’m not convinced it will be enough.

Virginia Tech 27 Clemson 23

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