Virginia Tech’s trip to Clemson is officially locked into a nighttime window.
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday afternoon that the Hokies and Tigers will meet Saturday, Oct. 24, at either 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2, with the exact kickoff time and channel to be set after this weekend’s slate.
Tech enters the matchup at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in ACC play, while Clemson is 3-2 and 2-1. It will be the first time the Hokies play the Tigers in Clemson, S.C. since the 2012 season, when Virginia Tech fell 38-17.
The Hokies have not beaten Clemson since Oct. 6, 2007, when then-No. 15 Virginia Tech rolled past then-No.
22 Clemson 41-23. Tech is 12-24-1 all-time against the Tigers and 2-5 in ACC games against them, with the current losing streak sitting at seven straight.
The teams have met only twice in the 2020s, and both were in Blacksburg. Clemson won 45-10 in 2020, then came back in 2024 for a 24-14 victory in a game shaped by quarterback issues for Virginia Tech.
Kyron Drones went 9-of-20 for 115 yards with no touchdowns and one interception before leaving in the second half and not returning for the rest of the game or the season. Collin Schlee finished 7-of-17 for 73 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Bhayshul Tuten, playing through injury, was the only Hokies back to record carries, finishing with four rushes for no net yards. Virginia Tech ran the ball 21 times for just 40 yards, a 1.9-yard average.
That 2024 loss was part of a frustrating close to the season for Tech, which dropped its second straight game and four of five down the stretch in a 6-7 finish.
This year has looked different for the Hokies, though not without its swings. Virginia Tech opened with a 73-3 win over VMI, then beat Old Dominion 44-21.
The Monarchs’ 23-point loss to the Hokies came nearly a year after Virginia Tech fell 45-26 in the previous meeting. Tech then knocked off Maryland 35-26 in College Park on Sept. 19, ending a 15-game skid against non-conference Power Four opponents.
ACC play began with a 21-14 win over Boston College in a nor’easter, a game in which sophomore running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. piled up a career-high 209 rushing yards. He had 140 of them in the final quarter and broke free for a 76-yard touchdown that put Virginia Tech ahead.
The Hokies’ first setback came Oct. 2 against Pitt in Lane Stadium, a 35-33 loss that denied them a 5-0 start for the first time since 2017. Virginia Tech jumped to a 14-0 lead and outgained the Panthers 499-295, but Pitt answered with a 35-10 surge. The Hokies did fight back in the fourth quarter, only for fifth-year kicker John Love’s 36-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer to miss.
Virginia Tech then dropped its second straight game Saturday at Cal, losing 25-20 in Berkeley. The Hokies took a 14-13 lead into the fourth quarter, but California put together a 14-play, 79-yard drive that lasted 7:07 to go ahead.
Tech answered with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, yet the Golden Bears responded in 57 seconds. California’s 2-yard rushing touchdown with 18 seconds left gave it the lead for good.
The Hokies still had one last chance, driving to the 7-yard line before Grunkemeyer’s final throw to a well-covered Luke Reynolds fell incomplete. Jackson Brousseau made his first start for Cal and completed 29 of 43 passes for 321 yards.
Grunkemeyer finished 21-of-31 for 288 yards with two total touchdowns, one passing and one rushing, while taking three sacks. For the season, he is 152-of-208 passing, a 73.1% completion rate, for 1,734 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions. His passing yardage ranks No. 6 nationally, and his quarterback rating of 78.6 is 24th.
Before Clemson, Virginia Tech has one more game on the schedule: Georgia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
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Georgia Tech has been vulnerable against the run, but the Yellow Jackets have also shown they can hang around deep into games before either finishing strong or letting things slip away. For Virginia Tech, that makes this more than just another ACC matchup - it is the kind of test that can either restore some confidence at home or leave even more questions hanging over a team still searching for a reliable identity. [Read more 🡒]