Clemson’s next trip through ACC play has a time and a TV window attached to it now.
The Tigers will host Virginia Tech on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. from Memorial Stadium, with the annual Homecoming game set for ESPN. After Week 7 wrapped up, the matchup between Clemson and the Hokies was locked into the night slot in Death Valley.
The decision came down to that window or a 7:30 p.m. kickoff that would have aired on ESPN2. Instead, Clemson-Virginia Tech lands in the prime-time spot after both teams picked up wins this past weekend, setting up a meeting between two-loss programs to open 2026.
Clemson heads into the game fresh off a 37-0 win over Charleston Southern, its first shutout since the 2021 season. The Tigers leaned on the ground game to control the afternoon, piling up 231 rushing yards and three touchdowns. SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. scored twice on the ground, and sophomore tailback Gideon Davidson added the other rushing score.
The defense got in on the action, too. Safety Kylon Griffin turned a turnover into points with a 17-yard scoop-and-score.
Virginia Tech, meanwhile, snapped a two-game skid with a 34-24 home win over Georgia Tech. The Hokies were outgained in total yards but still put together enough early offense to build a lead Georgia Tech could not climb out of.
The stakes around this one are hard to miss. Some could view it as a title-eliminator in the ACC race, especially with Virginia Tech already carrying two conference losses, to Pitt and California. In the first year under James Franklin, the Hokies would need a lot of chaos to reach the conference championship.
Clemson’s ACC path was jolted by its loss to No. 4 Miami before the open date, but Dabo Swinney now gets a chance to steady things as the Tigers begin a five-game conference stretch. That run starts against Virginia Tech, and Clemson will try to set the tone right away.
Swinney has already seen some of these Hokies before. Several of the players on this Virginia Tech roster were part of Franklin’s Penn State team in last season’s Pinstripe Bowl against Clemson. Franklin was fired during the season, but he brought some of the players he recruited there to Blacksburg as he tried to build a new culture.
One of those pieces is quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns in that December game in the Bronx. Clemson will be trying to keep him and a Virginia Tech offense that can score in bunches from finding that rhythm again.
Now the kickoff is set, and Clemson gets the kind of night setting at home that can tilt a game in its favor.
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