The Virginia Tech football team hired James Franklin to win big games on the road. Saturday night's primetime showdown in Death Valley against Clemson was one of those games. The first one of his era in Blacksburg.
Taking a 10-3 lead into halftime, the Hokies trailed entering the fourth quarter, but used a game-winning drive late in the game to seal a sixth win of the season and allow Virginia Tech to become bowl-eligible. Here are three observations from a huge statement win over Dabo Swinney and the Tigers, their first win over Clemson since 2007.
What a game-winning drive
Trailing 16-13 with just over seven minutes, the Hokies were facing a gut-check drive with an opportunity for a statement road win. What a drive and what a response from the Hokies. Virginia Tech moved the ball to the Clemson 5-yard line and faced a fourth-and-1. Franklin went for it, and quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer found a wide-open Luke Reynolds in the back of the end zone for the game-winning score with 1:46 left.
Twice on the drive, the Hokies were behind the sticks because of penalties, but instead of struggling as they did earlier in the game, Virginia Tech was able to come up with some big plays to move the ball down the field. Maybe even more impressive was the stand from the Hokies' defense, which caught a break with a first down overturned, and the defense made some plays to seal it with a sack on fourth down.
James Franklin has a long way to go in building an offensive line
Going into this game, you knew that the Hokies' patchwork offensive line was going to be tested against a stout Clemson defensive line. You knew that it could be ugly, and it was, but Franklin has some work to do moving forward, and it's an area that will likely have to be addressed through the Transfer Portal, along with some younger guys taking some steps going into 2027.
Truth be told, Franklin was lucky that Grunkemeyer was injured. He was under pressure every time he dropped back, and the running game was, well, nonexistent for the game. Clemson's defense kept their struggling offense in the game and allowed them to fix things in the second half.
Second half slow starts issues are still an issue
Franklin said this week that they were working on fixing their issues after halftime that had become concerning. Well, it's safe to say that whatever they did, well, it didn't work. Clemson got the ball to begin the second half and marched down for a field goal to cut the deficit to 10-6. After going three-and-out and losing nine yards on their first possession to have the drive end on their 1-yard line, the Hokies had to punt, which gave a struggling offense great field position.
Keeping with the second struggle of Virginia Tech, the Tigers took the lead at 13-10 when freshman Tait Reynolds scored on a touchdown run. Maybe during the bye week, it is something that Franklin and his staff will address again. Maybe. Going to SMU next is going to be a walk in the park. Per Andy Bitter of Tech Sideline, Tech has been outscored 41-10 in the third quarter this season in conference play. Not good.
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