Trevor Lawrence, No. 3 Clemson Beat Unranked Virginia Tech for ACC Title Berth

The Clemson Tigers have clinched their sixth straight appearance in the ACC Championship Game after Saturday's 45-10 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies.

After an easy victory over Pittsburgh last weekend in Trevor Lawrence's first game back following a COVID-19 diagnosis on Oct. 29, the Tigers wrapped up their regular season against the Hokies and are one step closer to securing a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Standing in Clemson's way will be the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the conference title game. The Irish handed the Tigers their only conference loss in the past two seasons on Nov. 7 in a 47-40 double-overtime thriller.

Despite the final score, this game was closer than expected until late in the third quarter. The game was tied at 10 in the final two minutes of the first half.

Clemson closed the game scoring 35 unanswered points. The running game made up for a rare off-day by Lawrence's passing. The Tigers racked up 238 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries.

Notable Game Stats

• Trevor Lawrence, QB (CLEM): 12-of-22, 195 yards, TD, INT; 7 carries, 41 yards, 2 TD
• Travis Etienne, RB (CLEM): 16 carries, 66 yards
• Darien Rencher, RB (CLEM): 1 carry, 50 yards, TD
• Cornell Powell, WR (CLEM): 4 receptions, 90 yards, TD
• Braxton Burmeister, QB (VT): 10-of-12, 127 yards
• Khalil Herbert, RB (VT): 21 carries, 96 yards, TD
• Raheem Blackshear, WR (VT): 4 receptions, 68 yards

Tigers Show Vulnerability in Sloppy Win

One hallmark of being a successful team is how easy it is to overlook flaws. Few programs in the country can claim to be as good as Clemson has been over the past six years.

But as this season rolls on, it's becoming harder to ignore the Tigers' issues on defense. They were most visible in the loss to Notre Dame.

Virginia Tech showed that there are ways to move the ball against Clemson. Braxton Burmeister had two big plays in the first half, including a Hail Mary pass to Raheem Blackshear on the final play that was stopped at the 1-yard line before he could get into the end zone.

Clemson didn't come into this game fully healthy on the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker James Skalski and defensive end Tyler Davis didn't last long before injuries knocked them out.

With the defense trying to navigate things without two key players, Lawrence and the offense had to pick up the slack. That unit looked terrific last week against Pittsburgh with 52 points, including 38 in the first 22 minutes of game time.

Things were much more difficult for that group against Virginia Tech. Lawrence looked off for most of the game. He threw a bad interception in the end zone as the Tigers were trying to go up by 14 late in the third quarter.

Clemson's defense was able to step up two plays later. Myles Murphy forced Burmeister to fumble, which Mario Goodrich recovered at the Hokies' 12-yard line. Lawrence redeemed himself with a seven-yard touchdown run that helped put the Tigers up 24-10.

The most important thing for Clemson at this point in the season is getting the win, which it was able to do. Head coach Dabo Swinney has his team still in the mix for a conference title and another berth in the College Football Playoff.

Looking ahead to the Tigers' rematch with Notre Dame, though, they will need to play significantly better in two weeks if they want to avenge their only loss of the season to date.

Justin Fuente Needs to Figure Out QB Position

As much as Clemson's defense gave Virginia Tech openings to keep this game interesting, the offense was unable to sustain any momentum long enough to pull off an upset.

This has been an ongoing problem for head coach Justin Fuente, particularly down the stretch.

The Hokies have lost four straight games for the first time since 2018. Their last game was a 47-14 loss to Pittsburgh two weeks ago. They committed two turnovers in that game, but it resulted in only three points for the Panthers.

One week later, against a better opponent, Virginia Tech committed two turnovers in the third quarter. Both of those giveaways led to two Clemson touchdowns that turned a close game into a blowout.

A big problem for the Hokies this season has been at the quarterback position. Fuente has primarily used Hendon Hooker as his starter, but Burmeister saw extended action in three games coming into Saturday.

Hooker was given the starting nod against Clemson, but Fuente lifted him following the first series of the game after Virginia Tech gained 10 yards on five plays and punted. The junior may have been injured on that series:

Burmeister did provide a spark in the first half, leading the Hokies on a touchdown drive on his first series of the game.

After the offense managed just three points on its next six drives, Hooker was put back in at quarterback. His second snap was fumbled and returned 66 yards by Derion Kendrick for a Clemson touchdown. He was also injured on the play, forcing the Hokies to turn to third-string quarterback Knox Kadum.

One reason that Fuente has gone through a quarterback jumble at times this season is because no one has stepped up to take control of the job. Hooker has had the longest leash but hasn't done much with 1,332 passing yards and nine touchdowns in seven games entering Saturday.

Burmeister played his most complete game of the season against Clemson, but it didn't come close to being enough to get a win. Kadum saw his first college action in this game, so the jury is still out on what the freshman can do.

Fuente is in his fifth season as head coach at Virginia Tech. His best quarterback during this span was Jerod Evans in 2016. He threw for 3,552 yards and 29 touchdowns that season, prompting him to declare for the 2017 NFL draft.

Saturday's loss clinches Virginia Tech's second non-winning season in the last three years. The next step for Fuente in building this program will be finding a quarterback who can at least make the offense respectable.

What's Next?

Clemson will play No. 2 Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 19. Virginia Tech will wrap up the regular season on Dec. 12 at home against Virginia.