The next five games for Clemson will be against teams that currently are below the Tigers in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
It will be a chance for the Tigers to gain traction as they bid to reach the ACC title game.
The first of the five contests for Clemson (4-2, 2-1) will come Saturday night against Virginia Tech (5-2, 2-2) in the Hokies’ first trip to Death Valley since 2012.
The top priority for the Tigers is to fix their anemic passing attack, which averages 187.5 yards per game, last in the ACC.
Help could be available Saturday, as opening-game starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina is close to returning from an injury to his non-throwing elbow.
“(He) is at the point where he can play based on what I saw last night,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday. “He’s starting to look like CV, which is really good. He was able to really rip the ball. He had a smile on his face.”
In a 37-0 cakewalk last week over Football Championship Subdivision team Charleston Southern last week, Clemson’s trio of quarterbacks struggled, completing 26 of 40 passes for 207 yards and no touchdowns, with two interceptions.
Meanwhile, passing has been a strength for Virginia Tech, which ranks third in the ACC with an average of 301.6 yards per game in the category. Ethan Grunkemeyer has thrown 15 touchdown passes against just two interceptions.
“He’s very crafty and puts the ball in a lot of great spots,” Swinney said. “They do a great job schematically in creating opportunities for him. They’ve had a lot of explosives.”
Providing the pyrotechnics in Virginia Tech’s 34-24 win last week over Georgia Tech was 5-foot-8, 175-pound Que-Sean Brown, who piled up a career-high 182 yards on six receptions.
“He’s got really good ball skills which allow him to play bigger than he is and play faster than he is because he doesn’t have to slow down to catch the ball. He can pluck it and go,” Virginia Tech coach James Franklin said.
Another story line for Saturday is Franklin will go against Clemson defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who served in the same role under Franklin at Penn State in 2024.
Franklin said Allen’s knowledge of his system will necessitate “tweaks” to his offense.
–Field Level Media
