When the Virginia Tech football team visited Clemson on Saturday night, despite what Penn State and Clemson fans say and want to believe, the Hokies were looking for a signature win in James Franklin's first season in Blacksburg.
Trailing entering the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech rallied for a 20-16 win that improved the Hokies to 6-2 and made them bowl-eligible in Franklin's first season in Blacksburg. It was a big win and a statement win given where the Virginia Tech program was just one year ago. If the Hokies had lost, you can bet Penn State, Clemson, and jealous Virginia trolls would have been calling Franklin "Big Game James.'' Ah yes, Virginia Tech has never been so back.
Anyway, it wasn't so much that the Hokies won the game, but how. Virginia Tech quarterback and Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer connected on a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Luke Reynolds, along with two John Love field goals. It wasn't so much who Grunkemeyer threw touchdown passes to, but how wide-open the other Penn State transfer was. On Monday night, Tigers coach Danbo Swinney was asked about Reynolds' touchdowns and offered an explanation of how his team defended both touchdowns.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney breaks down both Virginia Tech touchdowns to Luke Reynolds in the loss to the Hokies
In real time, if you were watching the game, you had to have asked yourself, "How could Clemson leave the best player on the field wide open?'' Well, Swinney has your answers.
"He just goes in motion and runs in the flat, and we're passing it off, and we don't get it communicated, and we just turn him loose,'' said Swinner, per Jackson Castellano of The Post and Courier. "On the other one, we're in man coverage, and we just don't cover him. Don't have our eyes on the right guy."
Yes, Dabo, I'd say your defense didn't have its eyes on the right guy. Somehow, someway, they lost the best player on the field, and the one player the play was more than likely going to. Yikes. Imagine if the roles were reversed and that happened to the Hokies? Defensive coordinator Brent Pry would be getting hammered, as would Franklin. Could you imagine?
Offensive coordinator Ty Howle perfectly drew up both plays. The second one, Reynolds just got lost behind the defense, and it was on fourth down, no less. It was surprising given how well Clemson defended the Hokies up until that point in the game, inside the final two minutes. However, players get lost in coverage all the time with defensive breakdowns, and that was just another example of that. Ot was just brutal timing for Clemson and Swinney.
The Tigers are 4-3 and likely headed to a bowl game, but they have a tricky game this weekend at Florida State, looking to rebound from the loss to the Hokies. There is a lot of pressure on Swinney in Northern Florida this Saturday, and we'll see if mistakes are going to be fixed in a pivotal game for both teams.
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