Clemson's 20-16 loss to Virginia Tech pushes the Tigers out of the ACC race

Clemson lost 20-16 at home to Virginia Tech on Saturday, and the defeat all but ends the Tigers' hopes of reaching the ACC Championship Game. Clemson falls to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the league, according to ESPN. The Hokies improved to 6-2 and 3-2.

The loss came down to an offense that kept reaching scoring range and coming away with little. The Aiken Standard's Jackson Castellano reported that Clemson outgained Virginia Tech, sacked Hokies quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer's offense six times and broke even in turnovers. Seven of its 11 drives got to midfield or beyond, but only one ended in a touchdown. Clemson trailed 10-3 at halftime, scored on all three of its third-quarter possessions to lead 16-10, and then failed to cross the 50 on any of its three fourth-quarter drives. Virginia Tech scored 10 points in the fourth, the last of them on a go-ahead touchdown pass at the end of a drive that included three penalties on the Clemson defense.

Officials also overturned a deep completion from freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds to Tyler Brown on Clemson's last possession, and Reynolds was sacked on the next play to end the game. Dabo Swinney declined to blame the officials. "Things that we controlled, we didn't do a good enough job to deserve to win the game, and that's on me," he said, per the Aiken Standard.

The passing game remains the larger problem. Clemson has two touchdown passes all season, the fewest in the FBS, and hasn't thrown one since Sept. 19 against North Carolina. Swinney was seen holding a play sheet in the second half, which raised questions about whether he had taken over play-calling from coordinator Chad Morris. He didn't answer that directly but said he and Morris had plenty to discuss. He also said he gave no thought to playing senior Christopher Vizzina, who is healthy again after an elbow fracture. It was Clemson's first home loss to Virginia Tech since 2007, and the Tigers are now 2-8 in their last 10 home games against power-conference opponents.

With the conference race mostly out of reach, the goals now are bowl eligibility, beating last year's win total and developing a young roster for 2027.

What it means for Florida State

Clemson plays at Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. on ACC Network, Florida State Athletics announced. Florida State leads the series 21-17, but Clemson won last year's meeting 24-10. A win would put the Tigers one away from bowl eligibility.

The season numbers don't help Clemson's case. All four of its wins came against Georgia Southern, North Carolina, California and FCS Charleston Southern. In its three losses it has been outscored 112-39, including a 51-10 loss at LSU and a 41-13 loss to Miami. The offense has scored 16 or fewer points in four of seven games.

On this site's board, Florida State is favored by 6.5 points across 12 venues. Novig lists the Seminoles at -203 on the moneyline and Clemson at +194. On the spread, Novig has Florida State -6.5 at -104, while Hard Rock Bet has the best number on the Seminoles at -5.5 (-110). The total sits at 49.5. Novig has the over at -113 and the under at -111. Fanatics has the best over price at -110 on 49.5, and BetRivers has the best under at 50.5 (-109). Sportsbook hold runs from 3.8% to 6.8%, so the venues are close to one another, with the full point on the spread and the extra point on the total as the main differences.

Virginia Tech has a week off before visiting No. 19 SMU on Friday, Nov. 6.