The Virginia Tech Hokies entered the ACC Championship as the underdogs against the more talented Clemson Tigers knowing they had a chance, but would have to play quite well to be able to pull off the upset. Virginia Tech put together a gutsy, tough, resilient effort that gave the Hokies a shot to win the game but at the end of the day, the more talented team was able to win.
The Clemson Tigers beat the Virginia Tech Hokies in a thriller 42-35 to lock up a return to the College Football Playoff as the 2 or 3 seed. Clemson never trailed in this game, but the Tigers were never able to put away the Hokies in this game with Virginia Tech's resilience showing time and time again allowing the Hokies to drive inside the Clemson 30 with a chance to tie or even win the game inside the final 2 minutes.
The Hokies got in a 14-0 hole early that proved costly in the end for Virginia Tech, but the Hokies seemed to get some momentum right after starting with Clemson's Dorian O'Daniel's targeting that gave the Hokies a first down and sent O'Daniel to the showers. Then, the Hokies pulled off an impressive fourth down fake punt for a first down that launched the Hokies to their first touchdown of the night.
Virginia Tech's defense started to gain some momentum and shut down the Clemson offense in the first half after the Tigers opened with three-straight touchdowns and got themselves a couple of stops while the Hokies were able to get a second touchdown and go into halftime down 21-14 in a game that seemed close to being an ugly game at times in the first half.
However, the Hokies came out in the second half and got a big play early with an Andrew Motuapuaka interception off a Vinny Mihota that set the Hokies up in Clemson territory, but Virginia Tech failed to get any points, and Clemson followed that by getting two more touchdowns while also forcing a Jerod Evans interception.
However, the Hokies continued to never give up and their fight back started on a bizarre play when Clemson brought no pressure whatsoever, giving Jerod Evans tons of time to make a big pass which he did with a perfectly thrown 43-yard bomb to Bucky Hodges. Two plays later, Travon McMillian picked up his second touchdown of the night on a big 27-yard touchdown where he carried a Clemson defender about 7-8 yards into the end zone with him.
Then, the Hokies' defense got another stop, and the Hokies went on another impressive drive ending in Jerod Evans's second touchdown run of the night from 5 yards out. However, Clemson continued to hold a firm grasp on their lead by responding with a touchdown thanks to a couple big catches including a second and 19 catch by Hunter Renfrow for a first down and Deon Cain taking advantage of a mismatch with Anthony Shegog on third down to get the first in what was a costly error from Bud Foster.
Virginia Tech's resilience continued to show as that would not be the dagger that some thought it would be with Virginia Tech responding with a touchdown on a 26-yard Cam Phillips touchdown catch on what was a great route from the junior. Then, Virginia Tech got a big defensive stop and the ball past their own 40 to create a golden opportunity.
The Hokies were able to get some momentum but once they got inside the Clemson 30, they couldn't get that one play they needed with Jerod Evans throwing his second interception of the night to Clemson's Cordrea Tankersley (his second interception) which almost ended the game before Deshaun Watson ran for a first down to allow Clemson to run out the clock and win 42-35.
The Hokies showed great resilience and heart, and proved tonight that this program has a bright future with the culture Justin Fuente has built as the Hokies came within less than 30 yards of having a shot to tie or win the game against the third-ranked team in the country that has superior talent. The future is bright in Blacksburg and the Hokies will be the favorites to win the ACC Coastal once again in 2016 with Jerod Evans set to be back.
Evans wasn't perfect but he played with great toughness and had a gritty performance as he went 21-for-35 through the air for 264 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions while rushing for 46 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21 carries. Evans continues to get better and another offseason to continue to improve as a passer especially in progressing through his reads will only be a very good thing for what was a very good Virginia Tech offense this past season.
Cam Phillips had a big game with 12 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown plus 3 carries for 9 yards as the junior was a nightmare for Clemson's defense while Isaiah Ford broke Jarrett Boykin's career receiving yards record with 89 yards on 4 catches. Bucky Hodges was fairly quiet on the night with only the 43-yard reception while C.J. Carroll had a 5-yard reception and Terrell Edmunds gained 20 yards on the fake punt pass from Mitchell Ludwig.
Travon McMillian got out of the dog house and had a solid game with 7 carries for 37 yards and 2 touchdown in what was a solid game for McMillian. Sam Rogers also made some things happen with 4 carries for 10 yards and 3 catches for 36 yards including a 32-yard reception on a jump pass from Evans that gave Virginia Tech some momentum.
Virginia Tech's defense didn't have its best night, but the Hokies did make some plays defensively with Terrell Edmunds having a strong defensive performance with 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 QB hurry while Andrew Motuapuaka had 4 tackles and an interception with Tim Settle leading the Hokies with tackles for loss with 1.5.
One thing that was disappointing for the Hokies was their inability to get a sack tonight with Deshaun Watson getting the ball away just in time a couple times along with evading the pressure a couple times to make a play and get a first down. The Hokies also had plenty of drive-extending pass interferences called against them in the first quarter including two on third downs that seemed to have light contact for passes that were uncatchable and in looking back, may have had a fairly big impact on this game given how Clemson turned those drives into touchdowns.
Whatever the case may be, Justin Fuente has Virginia Tech headed in the right direction and has put the Hokies back on the national radar as a force that is ready to take over the ACC Coastal again as they did for their early years in the conference. Virginia Tech is headed in the right direction quickly and what is certain is that every fan on both side will likely be looking forward to next year's rematch in Blacksburg.
Tonight, the more talented team won, but the Hokies are closing the talent gap and have a chance to close out this season with a strong statement still in what should be a quality bowl game against a solid opponent from the SEC most likely.
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