A bizarre finish in Blacksburg ended up doing Clemson a favor in the ACC race.
Virginia Tech had Pitt on the ropes Friday night, but the Hokies missed a 36-yard field goal that kept the Panthers unbeaten and sent Pitt home with a 35-33 win. It was the kind of ending that can swing a conference race in a hurry. Had that kick gone through, Pitt might be sitting near the top of the ACC picture as the second-best team in the league behind Miami.
Instead, the Panthers are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in ACC play, but the victory came with a major cost. Mason Heintschel suffered a torn ACL in Pitt’s road win over Virginia Tech, and Pat Narduzzi now has to get through the rest of the season without his starting quarterback. Pitt may still be ranked soon, but that injury changes the shape of what the Panthers can realistically become from here.
For Clemson, that matters. Two of the Tigers’ biggest obstacles in the path to Charlotte are dealing with very different problems now.
Virginia Tech has every reason to kick itself for letting the game slip away at Lane Stadium, while Pitt’s offense takes a clear hit without Heintschel. The Panthers may still lean on defense the rest of the way, but Heintschel had given them much more on that side of the ball than they’ll have now.
Clemson, meanwhile, has some breathing room because it has not lost an ACC game yet. Virginia Tech is still on the Tigers’ schedule later this month, and for now the Hokies are staring up at Clemson in the standings. Pitt isn’t a regular-season opponent, but the Panthers’ injury situation badly dents their chances of making it to the conference title game.
That also changes how Clemson’s matchup with Miami later this month looks on paper. A Virginia Tech win would have piled more pressure on the Tigers before the Oct. 24 showdown in Death Valley. Now, a home loss to Miami would not sting quite as much as it would have coming into the week.
Pitt can still finish with a season worth talking about, but the idea of the Panthers charging to Charlotte and winning there looks a lot less realistic now. The same goes for other ACC hopefuls like Louisville, SMU, and Virginia, who have not impressed so far.
Clemson still has work to do, and the Tigers still have to look the part against Miami. They also avoid Wake Forest this year, though Duke waits in the penultimate week of the season. For now, though, the door is open a little wider than it was before Friday night.
Miami will know more about its own standing after Saturday night’s game. At the moment, the Hurricanes are in the driver’s seat for the ACC title chase.
The real question is who ends up riding shotgun to Charlotte. After Week 5 in ACC play, Clemson’s chances of being that co-pilot are very much alive.
In Other News...
Tony Elliott Just Added To Clemson Fans' Biggest Dabo Succession Fear
Virginias 38-7 loss to Florida State was another rough reminder of how hard Tony Elliotts rebuild has been, especially after the Cavaliers had already shown a little life by beating North Carolina State earlier in the season. Florida State overwhelmed Virginia at the line of scrimmage, getting a school-record five rushing touchdowns from Ashton Daniels and piling up 10 sacks, a performance that left Elliotts team searching for answers on both sides of the ball.
For Clemson fans, the bigger concern is what Elliotts struggles might mean in the long view of the programs coaching tree and any eventual Dabo Swinney succession talk. Elliott was once viewed as one of the most prominent names tied to Clemsons future, but the inconsistent results at Virginia have only complicated that conversation and added another layer to a fear Tigers fans already know well. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Just Got A Painful ACC Reality Check
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The bigger concern for Clemson was how difficult it was to generate much of anything offensively against a Miami team now sitting at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. The Hurricanes left little doubt about the gap on this night, while Clemson was left to sort through what went wrong after a lopsided loss at home. In a league where every result can reshape the standings quickly, this one served as a blunt reminder of where the Tigers stand and how much cleaner theyll need to play from here. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Swinneys Postgame Message Raised A Bigger Clemson Concern
Clemsons home loss to No. 4 Miami did more than drop the Tigers to 3-2 on the season. It also reinforced how far this group still has to go against ranked competition, with the 41-13 defeat leaving Clemson 0-2 in those games and searching for answers after a night when Miamis talent showed up early and often.
Afterward, Dabo Swinney sounded as if he was trying to balance accountability with perspective, talking about freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds development while also pointing to the need for continued growth, focus and better production in the running game. Swinney said he has seen improvement in toughness and physicality since the opener, but the bigger concern now is whether those gains are enough to keep Clemson from getting stuck in the same place when the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]