CLEMSON, S.C. — After a go-ahead touchdown with 1:44 remaining, Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-2 ACC) forced a turnover on downs on Clemson's (4-3, 2-2 ACC) final drive in a 20-16 Virginia Tech victory on Saturday night in Memorial Stadium. Clemson appeared to have converted a third-and-9 on a long completion to Bryant Wesco Jr. down to the Hokie 25-yard line but had the call overturned upon review. Freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds was sacked on fourth down to end the comeback try.
Reynolds led the offense in passing and rushing, throwing for 153 yards on 20-of-26 passing and rushing 18 times for 63 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Tigers their first lead of the night. Wide receiver Tyler Brown led the Tigers in receiving with eight catches and 62 yards. Kicker Nolan Hauser was 3-for-3 on field goals.
Defensively, Clemson held Virginia Tech to 234 yards of total offense, including only 70 rushing yards on 37 carries, and recorded six sacks among its 10 tackles for loss. Safety Corey Myrick tallied nine total tackles with six solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Defensive end Will Heldt posted four tackles, including two sacks and two tackles for loss.
The Tiger defense opened the game by forcing consecutive Hokie three-and-outs, only allowing 12 yards across the two drives. Virginia Tech drove to the Clemson seven-yard line on its third drive, but defensive end Jaheim Lawson delivered a third-down sack on Virginia Tech's 11-yard line, resulting in a loss of eight yards and forcing a field goal. Virginia Tech's John Love made a 37-yard field goal attempt with 1:20 to play in the first quarter to put the Hokies up 3-0.
Reynolds rushed for 20 yards on third-and-1 to round out the first quarter, resetting the offense on the 34-yard line to start off the second quarter. Later in the drive, kicker Nolan Hauser tied the contest on a 34-yard field goal with 12:21 left in the second quarter. Hauser's field goal rounded out a scoring drive of 59 yards across 10 plays, spanning 3:59 of game play.
Heldt's first sack of the game on third-and-12 of Virginia Tech's next drive seemingly forced the Hokies to punt. However, Virginia Tech attempted a fake punt, and Luke Reynolds's eight-yard pass to Nathan Totten resulted in a Virginia Tech turnover on downs with 10:42 to play in the second quarter, but Clemson was unable to capitalize on the ensuing drive.
With 1:24 left in the second quarter, Virginia Tech regained the lead with a touchdown reception by Reynolds on a six-yard pass from quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer. Love made the extra point to make the score 10-3.
With 10:44 to play in the third quarter, Clemson narrowed the score to 10-6 on a 49-yard field goal by Hauser to punctuate a nine-play, 44-yard scoring drive spanning 4:16.
The Tigers took their first lead of the game later in the quarter on a 16-yard rushing touchdown by Reynolds. The drive spanned just 2:30 on only six plays covering 65 yards. A successful PAT by Hauser gave the Tigers a 13-10 advantage with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Clemson stretched its lead to 16-10 with a 36-yard Hauser field goal with three seconds to play in the third quarter. Virginia Tech answered with a field goal of its own, a 47-yarder by Love with 11:52 to play in the fourth quarter, narrowing the Clemson advantage to 16-13.
The Hokies took the lead for good on a methodical 11-play, 69-yard touchdown drive aided by three penalty calls. Grunkemeyer finished the drive with his second touchdown pass of the game to Reynolds, a five-yard pass on fourth-and-1 with 1:44 to play.
Clemson appeared to drive inside Virginia Tech territory on its final drive, but an apparent third-down conversion by Wesco was overturned, and a Virginia Tech sack on fourth down forced a game-ending turnover on downs.
Clemson will spend the next two weeks on the road for ACC tests at Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 31 and at Syracuse on Saturday, Nov. 7. The Tigers will return to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14 against Georgia Tech.
