Virginia Tech’s defense has spent the last two weeks absorbing damage through the air, first by Cal backup Jackson Brousseau in his first start and then by Georgia Tech’s Alberto Mendoza, who set a career high with 335 passing yards. That’s a bad trend for almost anyone. Clemson, though, comes in with a passing game that has struggled all season, and that gives the Hokies a different kind of chance when the teams meet Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Clemson is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the ACC, while Virginia Tech sits at 5-2 and 2-2. A win at Clemson would make the Hokies bowl eligible in James Franklin’s first season, and the path there runs through a defense that will need to control a limited Tigers offense.
The first big piece is TyWone Stevens. He didn’t record a sack in 2025 and finished with 14 tackles and half a tackle for loss, but seven games into this season he already has eight sacks, tied for second in the country.
Stevens arrived in Blacksburg from Indianapolis as a linebacker recruit before moving to the defensive line in 2024, and Franklin said Monday that he has thrived since the new staff got there and is bigger, stronger and faster than he was. He was all over Georgia Tech with 2.5 sacks, and now he draws a Clemson offensive line that has allowed 17 sacks in six games.
The right side, where sophomore guard Easton Ware and fifth-year tackle Collin Sadler line up, is where Stevens has done most of his work. If he gets to true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds early, the rest of the job gets a lot simpler.
The Hokies also need Jayden Wylie to handle the run game. He leads Virginia Tech with 37 tackles and has paced the team in each of the last two games, logging nine at Cal and 10 against Georgia Tech.
His assignment Saturday is Gideon Davidson, Clemson’s sophomore back, who has 430 yards and five touchdowns at 5.4 yards per carry. Davidson’s 75-yard touchdown helped put away Cal, and he has been the most reliable part of Clemson’s offense.
Virginia Tech has been excellent against the run, allowing 87.4 rushing yards per game, 10th in the FBS, but Georgia Tech still found space for Trelain Maddox’s 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Clemson, meanwhile, ranks 134th nationally with 7.7 tackles for loss allowed per game, so the opportunities to disrupt Davidson in the backfield should be there.
Then there’s Xavier Reddish, who gives Virginia Tech a chance to steal a possession if the game turns messy. The last time Clemson saw him, he was racing the other way with one of its field goals.
As a true freshman in 2024, he blocked Keyshawn Burgos’ block of a 46-yard Nolan Hauser attempt and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. It was Virginia Tech’s first blocked field goal returned for a score since 2016, though Clemson still won 24-14.
Now back from an injury that ended his 2025 season early, the junior from Charlotte, N.C., picked off Mendoza in the second quarter against Georgia Tech for his first interception since Week 2 of last season.
Reddish’s role is to patrol the deep middle, and that matters because Reynolds has completed just two of 21 passes of 20 yards or more. Clemson isn’t built to attack Virginia Tech over the top.
It gets to the Hokies when coverage breaks down, like the back-to-back 15-yard penalties that helped Cal’s winning drive. If Virginia Tech keeps plays in front of it, Clemson will have to stack together long drives with a freshman quarterback.
And if those drives stall, Hauser is there; he has made 15 of 16 field goals this season.
Two years ago, Reddish helped beat Clemson by taking away a field goal. On Saturday, forcing the Tigers into three points may be just as valuable.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Still Has Two Big Questions Before Clemson
James Franklin spent part of Virginia Techs prep for Clemson talking through the pieces that still matter most this week, and a freshman on the offensive line has quickly become part of that conversation. Eziuka drew Franklins attention after working his way into the rotation at right guard, a promising sign for a unit trying to steady itself before a difficult conference test. Franklin also touched on Tait Reynolds handling of the quarterback situation after the starters injury, while offering the usual practice updates as the Hokies tried to sort out who would be available and where the depth chart might settle.
The bigger picture, though, is how Virginia Tech is trying to clean up the middle of games, not just the opening script. Practice this week has been geared toward improving third-quarter performance, with red-zone work moved into the middle of practice to recreate the kind of reset the Hokies have struggled to manage. Against Clemson, the margin for slow starts or flat stretches will be thin, and Virginia Techs ability to carry its practice emphasis into the game may tell as much as any injury update. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Has A Clemson X-Factor Fans Need To Watch
Virginia Tech heads into Death Valley with a clear chance to turn a meaningful November game into something more than just another ACC test. A win would push the Hokies into bowl eligibility, and the matchup comes with some added intrigue because Clemson has not been as sharp through the air as it would like. Virginia Tech will need a few players to rise to the moment, and the preview points to several Hokies who could shape the game if they make Clemson uncomfortable early.
Among the names to watch is Quentin Reddish, who has already shown he can swing a game in the secondary. Virginia Tech will be looking for takeaways and field position against a Clemson team that has had trouble finding efficiency in the passing game, and that opens the door for one timely defensive play to tilt the night. The Hokies have reasons to believe they can hang around, but they will need their impact players to show up in a place that has been a tough road for them for a long time. [Read more 🡒]