Virginia Tech’s trip to Clemson on Saturday night brings the Hokies face to face with a Tigers team that has flashed real talent this season, even if the results have come with plenty of turbulence.
Clemson enters at 4-2, and both of its losses have been ugly - a lopsided defeat to No. 18 LSU and another rough night against now-No.
1 Miami. Outside of those two games, the Tigers have taken care of business, but the bigger question hanging over them is whether they can still look like the program that set such a high bar over the past decade.
The quarterback situation has been a major part of that uneven start. Clemson opened the year with Chris Vizzina, who went down with an arm injury in a Week 2 win over Georgia Southern and has not played since. Since then, true freshman Tait Reynolds has been thrown into the spotlight, putting up 943 passing yards and one touchdown while working through the obvious growing pains that come with his first run at college football.
“Tait Reynolds is very much a work in progress,” said Matt Goldin, a writer for Clemson’s SB Nation site Shakin The Southland. “You have a raw but talented freshman getting baptized by fire.”
The numbers tell the story of an offense still searching for rhythm. Clemson is last in FBS with just two passing touchdowns, and its passing game ranks 111th nationally at 187.5 yards per game. Reynolds, despite playing fewer snaps than most starting quarterbacks around the country, sits 109th in passing yards.
A lot of the pain showed up against Miami, when Reynolds had a career-high 295 passing yards but also turned it over twice, including a pick six late in the fourth quarter. He was sacked six times in that game, a reminder of how vulnerable Clemson has been up front. Against Power Four opponents, the Tigers are allowing nearly four sacks per game.
“Clemson’s offensive line has struggled a lot this year,” Goldin said. “The thing that Tait Reynolds is able to do that Chris Vizzina wasn’t is extend plays with his legs.”
That shaky offense stands in contrast to a secondary that has done a strong job of limiting opposing passing games. Clemson is giving up just over 189 passing yards per game, which ranks 39th nationally, and the Tigers have collected 14 sacks in six games, good for 43rd.
Junior cornerback Ashton Hampton has been a key piece on that back end. He helped hold Miami wide receiver and former second-team All-American Malachi Toney to 40 yards on five catches without a touchdown. Hampton is also projected by some as a mid-to-late first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
Clemson has other talent capable of causing problems, too. Junior wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. has been steady since his true freshman season and remains an important part of the offense even though his stat line this year - 340 yards and no touchdowns - doesn’t jump off the page.
“Despite the numbers not looking amazing, Bryant Wesco is an amazing wide receiver,” Goldin said. “His explosiveness is what the Tigers’ offense needs.”
Wesco’s value extends well beyond the passing game. He ranks seventh nationally in punt return yards with 148, just behind Tech wide receiver Que’Sean Brown, who leads all players with 267. Hokies head coach James Franklin made it clear he’s well aware of what Wesco can do.
“I haven’t slept based on Wesco up to this point,” said Hokies head coach James Franklin. “He’s fearless. He’s long and he’s fast and he’s athletic.”
Clemson’s wide receiver room also includes junior T.J. Moore and senior Tyler Brown, while junior Christian Bentancur leads the tight ends.
The Tigers’ ground game has offered some stability, though it still doesn’t look like the kind of backfield Clemson once rolled out with NFL names like Travis Etienne Jr., Wayne Gallman and C.J. Spiller. Sophomore Gideon Davidson leads the team in rushing with 430 yards and five touchdowns, but both figures rank outside the top 70 nationally.
Davidson’s best showing came in Clemson’s 24-10 win over Cal, when he ran for 159 yards and two scores. That game may have been the Tigers’ cleanest performance of the season.
In it, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was held to 119 passing yards and threw two interceptions, both picked off by senior cornerback Elliott Washington II. Wesco also broke the game open with a 65-yard punt return touchdown in the third quarter.
“He ran up in traffic, never hesitated, never broke down,” Franklin said. “Caught it on the run. That’s an impressive play.”
Even with the inconsistency, Franklin believes Clemson still has the kind of roster that can stack up with the country’s best. Saturday night, though, the Hokies will get their shot to test that theory. The winner will keep itself in position in a crowded ACC race behind Miami, while the loser will be left fighting an uphill battle to stay in the mix.
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