Division Leaders Square Off In Big-Time ACC Battle

 For Virginia Tech, it’s a chance for redemption. For Clemson, it’s just another game as a target.

 The ACC foes square off Saturday night at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg in the marquee game of the weekend. The Hokies are ranked 13^th in the nation while Clemson comes in as the nation’s No. 2 squad.

 

Virginia Tech QB Josh Jackson has shown steady leadership (The Virginian-Pilot)

  The teams played a memorable ACC Championship game last year, Clemson hanging on for a 42-35 win after Virginia Tech came back from 35-14 down in the second half. Fans may be pointing to that game as a rallying cry, but Hokies coach Justin Fuente isn’t.

 “We haven’t talked about and won’t talk about it,” Fuente said. “I think everybody handles those things differently. That was last year. My message was that that was last year’s team – last year’s Virginia Tech team versus last year’s Clemson team. This is a completely different situation. We’ve got guys that played in that game and are no longer here, and so do they. So we won’t use it as a reference point.

“We battled, our guys believed, they fought, and I tell you what, I knew we were gonna win, and I was wrong. We didn’t. It hurts, you know?”

 Both teams boast strong defenses, Clemson allowing just 9.3 points per game, third best in the nation and Virginia Tech giving up just 10.3 per game, sixth best. Virginia Tech gets it done mostly with its back seven, while Clemson swarms the backfield with the best front four in America.

 It should be a fascinating battle, and the team that best weathers the storm and makes the adjustments wins.

 Clemson already has some impressive pelts on its wall, beating ranked foes Auburn and Louisville, which gives Tigers coach Dabo Swinney optimism.

 “We’re battle tested,” Swinney said. “We’ve played two top-15 teams, one of them at their place. And then we played a tough Boston College team – physical. So we’ve had our noses bloodied. We’ve had to respond to some adversity. It hasn’t all been just rosy.

“Had some emotional moments. Had big plays go against them. We’ve had some physical matchups. We played against an unbelievable quarterback in Lamar (Jackson). We played against great defenses.”

 Tech is led by linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who has 4.5 tackles for loss and is the spiritual leader on Bud Foster’s unit. End Andrew Motuapuaka has been a pest, posting 2.5 sacks and emerging as one of the better pass rushers in the ACC.

 Offensively, redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Jackson has been up to the challenge, completing 65.2 percent of his passes and posting a nifty 11-1 TD-INT ratio. He’s also not afraid to push the ball downfield, averaging a healthy 9.8 yards per attempt. His favorite target is senior receiver Cam Phillips, who already has 34 catches, fourth best nationally, and averages 15.4 yards per catch. Phillips has found the end zone five times, and will need to a priority for the Clemson defense. Tech has done a good job protecting Jackson, allowing just four sacks this season.

 Clemson was flash last season behind the masterful play of quarterback Deshaun Watson, but this year the Tigers have become more of a grind it out offense. Kelly Bryant has been up and down as a passer, boasting an impressive 67.9 completion percentage, but much of that has been safe passes to the running back or underneath throws to crossing receives. Bryant has just two touchdown passes, but he’s proven dangerous as a runner, scoring seven touchdowns on 66 carries.

  

Clemson DE Austin Bryant has been a sack machine (The Post and Courier)

 The Tigers use a committee approach in the backfield, but freshman Travis Etienne has been explosive, averaging nearly 13 yards per carry and scoring four touchdowns, and Tavien Feaster has been more of the power option. Deon Cain and Hunter Renfrow are experienced receivers and will be part of the game plan.

  

 Defense is where Clemson makes its bones, however. End Austin Bryant has five sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss, and inside man Christian Wilkins can wreak havoc in the backfield (2.5 TFL) and drop into coverage. There aren’t many as versatile as he is, and Fuente knows that he will have to get creative on offense, especially since Clemson has already posted 17 sacks.

  

 “It’s not a read and react situation,” Fuente said. “It’s a pin your ears back and try to create havoc.”

 Phillips is looking forward to the spotlight and knows this will be a big chance for Tech to prove itself against one of the big boys.

  

 “A lot of people don’t get these chances, and I will say we worked to get here, it wasn’t just handed to us,” Phillips said. “Some people didn’t think we would be 4-0, whatever that may be, but we’re here now, and we get a big game into our house this weekend.”

  

 Swinney knows that Lane Stadium will be charged up from the outset, and he will have to make sure his team doesn’t get overwhelmed by the spectacle of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and the raucous Hokies crowd.

 Playing at Louisville early took some of the nerves away, so Swinney sees this as more of a chance to build.

 “Any time you can draw from experience, it can kind of give you an understanding of what to expect,” Swinney said. “When you take a team on the road to Louisville early in the season, with a bunch of new guys that haven’t played on the road, that’s really good experience.

“So now those young guys have been in that and they can hopefully draw a little bit from it.”

 Clemson has won the last four meetings, including 23-3 in their last trip to Blacksburg, in 2011.

  

 Fuente knows that this is a golden opportunity for his team, but he also knows that there is zero margin for error if the Hokies want to show the nation they have truly arrived.

  

 “You’re not going to get away with much of anything,” Fuente said. “You make a mistake, they’re going to make you pay. You can’t take one step in the wrong direction or hesitate for half a step when you’re playing the type of talent that we’re going to go up to. It’s like defusing a bomb. Like one small snip of the wire that’s incorrect, and boom. You blow your hands off. That’s how talented and how good they are.”