Virginia Tech picked up its biggest win of the James Franklin era as the Hokies pulled off a thrilling 20-16 victory against Clemson at Death Valley to improve to 6-2. The win makes the Hokies bowl eligible, with this being the earliest the Hokies have achieved that since 2017.
So with that said, here are my takeaways from Tech's 20-16 victory over Clemson.
1. VT's Creativity With Que'Sean Brown and Luke Reynolds Was Crucial
This was a challenging night for Virginia Tech's offense against a Clemson's defense that held them to 3.3 yards per play, the fewest yards per since the Hokies averaged 3.2 in the 2016 hurricane game at North Carolina when the Hokies beat the Tar Heels 34-3. The offensive line play was poor, failing to give Tech's running backs any quality lanes to run through while allowing six sacks and causing Ethan Grunkemeyer to be under duress often.
However, VT deserves credit for finding creative ways to get its two best receivers involved and get them quality touches where they could make plays happen in good matchups for them. That creativity was something James Franklin had high praise for after the game.
"We really struggled with their front in the run game and in protection. To me, that's why it was so impressive because we had to manufacture yards, perimeter screens, get the ball to our playmakers as many times as we possibly can, Luke and Q over and over again," Franklin said.
Que'Sean Brown was the brightest offensive star in this game with five catches for 69 yards plus two carries for 22 yards. That included an unusual situation where Brown had more yards after the catch (78) than receiving yards (69), a sign both of how VT's offensive line limited them down the field and how Howle was able to find creative ways to get Brown quality opportunities to make things happen. And sure enough, Brown delivered again and again.
His 27-yard catch and run on a screen to end the third quarter was a crucial moment to help the Hokies find their footing again after a dominant third quarter for Clemson saw the Hokies go from up 10-3 at halftime to down 16-10 entering the fourth quarter.
The ability to get Brown the ball in space was crucial in this game. His two jet sweeps that went for 22 yards total (one for 12 and one for 10) are the main reason why VT was able to average almost 4.4 yards per carry on non-Ethan Grunkemeyer runs in this game. It was a smart way to utilize Brown to jumpstart a nonexistent designed rushing attack while getting him in space and away from a struggling offensive line.
What was also smart were the two shuffle passes to Luke Reynolds where the Hokies used motion to create some confusion for Clemson and shift the defense's eyes onto Que'Sean Brown. That left plenty of room for the shuffle pass to Reynolds who was able to get 8+ yards on both shuffle passes thanks to some good play design by Ty Howle and company.
Howle also slowly embraced the quick pass game as the night progressed, with Reynolds being the primary beneficiary of that. Those quick passes and shuffle passes were key in getting Reynolds and the offense going.
It wasn't a pretty night for Virginia Tech's offense, especially with a struggling offensive line. However, Ty Howle deserves plenty of credit for the creativity he showed in how he got the ball to his two best receivers; Que'Sean Brown and Luke Reynolds, and finding a spark for the VT offense that helped them do enough to pick up a big road victory.
