Clemson dismantles Virginia Tech, 45-10

The No. 3 Clemson Tigers defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies 45-10 on Saturday at Lane Stadium to improve to 9-1 on the season.

Meanwhile, the Hokies fall to 4-6 on the season and have now lost four consecutive games for the second time in head coach Justin Fuente’s five-year tenure.

While the final score was a predictable one, how we arrived at that point was not.

The Hokies actually jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and were down just 17-10 at halftime, despite some mistakes on both sides of the ball.

However, in the second half, the Tigers took over and the Hokies didn’t look like they belonged on the same field.

Hendon Hooker started at quarterback for the Hokies and attempted just one pass, which he completed for seven yards. He fumbled a snap early in the game and the coaches went to Braxton Burmeister.

Burmeister looked good, using his legs to move the football and completed a beautiful pass down the field to Tayvion Robinson to set up what would be Virginia Tech’s only touchdown of the night.

In the second half adjusted and, predictably, Virginia Tech’s overmatched and inept offensive coordinator, Brad Cornelsen did not. Burmeister struggled, took a big hit and Hooker re-entered the game.

Unfortunately, Hooker fumbled another snap that was returned for a Clemson touchdown. Hooker was clearly hurt on the play and went into the locker room for a large part of the fourth quarter.

Enter Knox Kadum.

With Quincy Patterson entering the transfer portal, the redshirt freshman finished the game under center for the Hokies.

Khalil Herbert had another strong game for the Hokies, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Virginia Tech’s defense played well for most of the night. It was late in the third quarter that game finally got away from them after getting next to nothing from the offense. With Clemson leading 17-10, Divine Deablo picked off Trevor Lawrence in the end zone. Unfortunately, Burmeister would fumble it right back and that would end the competitive portion of this game.

There are so many things to dissect from this one, which we’ll do in the coming days.

Virginia Tech plays Virginia next week.