Anyone hoping the Clemson Tigers‘ 33-21 loss to the Louisville Cardinals last week in Death Valley was a “one-off” — albeit one with incredibly bad timing this late into the regular season — to a team with a great defensive game plan has had a rude awakening.
A week after the loss to Louisville, Clemson hoped for a turnaround against a Virginia Tech Hokies team with four losses. It’s been anything but that so far at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech leads Clemson, 7-0, at halftime. Here’s how both teams got to that point.
Clemson’s offense can’t finish drives
After Clemson’s defense opened the game with a three-and-out stop, Cade Klubnik and the offense’s first drive got off to a promising start. But the Tigers couldn’t finish after using 15 plays to move the ball 48 (net) yards to the Virginia Tech 32.
Klubnik was picked off by Jaylen Jones on a jump pass at the 4-yard line. The Tigers took 6:31 off the clock but came away with zero points.
On its second drive, Clemson went for it on 4th and 2 at the Virginia Tech 26-yard line, but Klubnik was sacked on a play that was blown up by Cole Nelson on the right side of the Tigers’ defensive line.
Clemson’s offensive line is flailing
After the first quarter, Clemson had seven first downs to Virginia Tech’s one. The Tigers had 91 yards of total offense while holding the Hokies to 35 yards (23 of which came on one chunk play). But the Tigers also allowed three sacks in the opening period.
After T.J. Parker forced a fumble by Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones early in the second quarter, Clemson took over with promising field position at the Hokies’ 36. But Klubnik failed to scramble for a first down when he attempted to run on 3rd and 1 and lost two yards as the O-line broke down again.
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