CLEMSON – After freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds ran into the end zone to cap off a 13-point third quarter, no one was more excited than cornerback Elliot Washington II.

As Reynolds ran, or, rather skipped, to the sideline after his touchdown, Washington repeatedly jumped in the air, waiting to talk to his fellow Tiger newcomer. When the quarterback finally made it back to a sea of Clemson defenders on the home side, Washington held back no encouragement.

Or colorful words.

Or chest bumps.

And all of the aforementioned celebrations were warranted for the defensive back, especially after Washington’s defensive group had taken the brunt of responsibility for most of Virginia Tech’s 20-16 win over Clemson at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

In the first half, Clemson’s offense generated only six points and only 27 passing yards, using 83 yards on the ground to set up Nolan Hauser’s lone field goal. The Tigers, led by Reynolds, struggled to get into any kind of rhythm, punting three times and turning over the ball on downs in the first half.

Clemson held onto the ball for only about 12 minutes of the first half offensively, notching three drives that ended with fewer than ten yards. Reynolds averaged less than three yards per pass. His offensive line had also been far from perfect, giving up two sacks.

“Story of the game, just missed opportunities on offense, critical missed opportunities on offense,” Swinney said. “Needed to convert some field goals to touchdowns. Some really really big penalties that were costly.”

In the meantime, the Tigers’ defense managed to hold Virginia Tech to only ten first half points, despite the Hokies having another possession than Clemson and an additional six minutes on the field through two quarters. Though Virginia Tech threatened Tiger territory a few more times and did go on one 17-play touchdown drive, the defense was good enough to win in the first half.

The offense was not. The crowd’s ‘boos’ made it perfectly clear.

But minutes after head coach Dabo Swinney told a sideline reporter at halftime that Tiger coaches were “fixing to fix it” in the locker room, Reynolds and the Tigers’ offense came out and played some of their best football of the ACC season.

To open the second half, Clemson received the kickoff and quickly went on a nine play, 44-yard drive to cut the lead 10-6. On that drive, Reynolds was responsible for 15 total yards, while running back Gideon Davidson had 27.

After the defense handed Reynolds and his pack another stop, the Tigers’ offense had their best drive of the night.

Reynolds opened it up with a 22-yard pass to T.J. Moore, his longest connection of the night, to immediately threaten the Hokies’ defense. The freshman signal-caller then rushed for 11 yards, handed off for one yard, and then found wide receiver Tyler Brown for a 16-yard pass.

The rookie then ran it in for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the defense their first sigh of relief on the night. He then led another six-play drive for a field goal and the final points of the night to cap off the third quarter and all of the Tigers’ scoring on the night.

“I’m glad I got in the end zone, it was a big score for the team,” Reynolds said postgame. “We just need to do it more.”

However, despite Washington and Reynolds’ initial, warranted excitement, neither side of the ball was good enough for a Tigers’ win in the fourth quarter, as the offense failed to score again and the defense gave up a late-game touchdown.

Reynolds completed 77 percent of his passes for 153 yards, while Washington finished with three tackles and a quarterback hurry. Much to the dismay and anguish of many seething Clemson fans, he was also charged with a late pass interference call.

“I thought our defense played their tails off,” Swinney said. “They played tough, played physical. They were averaging 37 points a game coming in and we held them at 20. They were averaging 148 yards rushing. We held them to 1.9 a carry. 11th in passing in the country held them to 164. They were averaging 440. We held them to 234. I thought we did enough on defense and special teams to win the game.”

After Clemson’s struggles offensively this season, it was easy to see why Washington was excited when there was some third quarter success. The Tigers just couldn’t build on it.