The No. 2 Clemson Tigers defeated No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night in Week 5, 31-17. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Clemson’s win.
The Clemson Tigers went into a hostile road environment and came away with a huge ACC victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night, 31-10. Virginia Tech was the No. 12 team in the country, but the Hokies were no match for Dabo Swinney’s Clemson team at home.
The defending national champions are an elite program on both sides of the football. Kelly Bryant is doing an incredible job of filling the shoes of the best player in the program’s history in Deshaun Watson at quarterback and the Tigers defense is smothering, so it will be shocking to not see Clemson win the ACC.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Tigers’ big Week 5 win over the Hokies in Blacksburg.
Takeaways
Clemson can repeat as national champions. We didn’t think it was possible, but Clemson looks like a team that can win back-to-back national championships. Of course, they’ll have to deal with the Alabama Crimson Tide, the best that the Big Ten can offer or another Power 5 power along the way.
However, what we’re seeing out of Swinney’s program should let us know that Clemson is a serious threat to win its third national title at the end of this season. One could argue that the defense is better than last year’s. Offensively, the team isn’t as gifted as last year’s, but you can sense that the team will grow with Bryant under center in October, November and beyond.
Does Clemson peak before it gets cold outside? Maybe, but who in the ACC is going to honestly challenge them? The Tigers already beat Louisville and Virginia Tech. Florida State is banged up in a lost season. Maybe it’ll be Mark Richt’s Miami Hurricanes? Entering Week 6, Clemson may have the clearest path to the College Football Playoff. If the Tigers don’t win the ACC, they messed up.
The Hokies laid an egg offensively. The final score may tell you otherwise, but it was not a good night for the Hokies offense. Bud Foster did his job in making the Hokies defense respectable, but Virginia Tech needed a better effort from its skill position players to beat an elite conference opponent at home.
Quarterback Josh Jackson may only be an underclassmen, but he rarely got his offense into rhythm in this game. Virginia Tech would get the bulk of its points in the fourth quarter, but admittedly, that was garbage time.
Could these two teams meet again in the 2017 ACC Championship? Absolutely, but the Hokies have to play better offensively to beat the likes of Miami and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for the chance at a rematch with Clemson. A better offensive effort out of Virginia Tech would have made for a closer game.
Brent Venables will be leading a Power 5 team next year. It’s time. Clemson has to realize that its defensive coordinator Brent Venables may be ready to be a head coach in the Power 5 as soon as the 2018 NCAA season.
Clemson lost former offensive coordinator Chad Morris to the SMU job a few years ago. He was solid with the Tigers under Swinney, but Venables might be the best coordinator in the Power 5 this season.
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Some Power 5 program will can their coach and will inquire on Venables’ availability. He may not bite on most jobs, but his defense at Clemson is smothering. You can just tell that other Power 5 schools will want to poach what’s good for Clemson. Venables is ready to be a head coach, if he wants to be one. He’ll have opportunities.