In 2011, Virginia Tech was really good. They started the season 4-0 and climbed all the way up to #11 in the AP national rankings. Then in week 5, Clemson came into Blacksburg and basically demoralized Virginia Tech on their home field with a suffocating defense. Tech shook off the loss and then rang off seven straight wins and pretty much cruised to the Coastal title, earning a date with the winners of the Atlantic: Clemson.
And in the ACC Championship Game, it was pretty much the same thing all over again, with Clemson’s defense smothering Virginia Tech, with Tajh Boyd throwing fifty touchdowns, running in ten more and making Al Bundy’s legendary high school game seem like Pop Warner. The two losses to Clemson would be Virginia Tech’s only losses* on the season.
*Excluding the bullshit loss to Michigan in the Sugar Bowl that wasn’t really a loss because Danny Coale’s touchdown was good but the crooked fucking refs overturned it, gifting the game to Michigan
In 2012, Virginia Tech wasn’t really that good. But they still played Clemson, and much like the year before, Clemson hung a ton of points on them again in a blowout victory.
Needless to say, I can’t speak for all Virginia Tech fans, but I’ve developed a little bit of a complex and a very much dislike for Clemson. Seriously, I have to comb a little hard to find out that the last time Virginia Tech beat Clemson was back in 2007, when Tyrod Taylor as a freshman was the starting QB for the team; Taylor is now six years into his NFL career, after playing all four years in college, so it’s been nearly a decade since Virginia Tech has defeated Clemson.
So I’ve been fortunate and glad to not have seen Clemson on the schedule throughout the last four seasons, because it’s no secret that Virginia Tech has been on something of a transitional phase since the Logan Thomas era and the eventual retirement of Frank Beamer. The team has been running out of Fuller brothers to provide them stalwart defense, and hasn’t really had a good stable quarterback since the aforementioned Tyrod Taylor, or a decent running back since like David Wilson.
Games against Clemson are pretty much foregone conclusions and guaranteed losses, of the blowout variety, and no Virginia Tech fans want to see that happen, even if we all know that the team’s going through a little bit of a transitional period.
But then the Hokies just had to be a little inspired and plucky and somewhat competent in an admittedly weak field of competition in 2016. Perhaps the coaching of new coach Justin Fuente and his offensive style complimented the team a little bit better than the notorious special teams-focused Frank Beamer, but for whatever the reason, Virginia Tech emerged as the cream of the crop, went 9-3 overall and won the Coastal with a 6-2 record in the conference.**
**Not to go ignored was the WCW-like way that NC State defeated UNC to effectively clinch the Coastal for Virginia Tech, a day before Virginia Tech had to even play their last game of the regular season. I compared it to when the nWo Wolfpac beat up Goldberg to basically clinch the WCW title for Bret Hart. It didn’t stop Virginia Tech from blowing out UVA, but the game was effectively pointless in the standings.
The reward for winning the division? A date with the winners of the Atlantic division, at the ACC Championship. Which would be, Clemson.
So, despite my relief in believing that Virginia Tech would be spared the indignity of getting trounced by Clemson in 2016, they had to go out and win the division and suddenly, they’ve got a date with their tormentors and in all likelihood get slaughtered again.
I mean, at the time I’m writing this, Clemson is already favored to win by 9 points. I’m surprised it’s not like 17 points, which seems to be closer to the average margin of victory Clemson has enjoyed against Virginia Tech over the last few encounters, and I would say that Clemson is stronger and Virginia Tech is weaker since their last matchup in 2012.
But am I going to watch the game? Of course I am. That’s what fans do, no matter how depressing or insurmountable things might seem. It’s the ACC Championship, which is always a prestige to those of us who root for a team within the conference. And despite the unfavorable odds, very little would make me happier than seeing lowly Virginia Tech defeat Clemson. Not only would Clemson lose the ACC Championship, they would undoubtedly get knocked out of the Top-4 for the National Championship playoff, and potentially even from a New Years Six Bowl Game. At the hands of Virginia Tech.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech gets to raise another ACC Championship, and a win against Clemson is what separates them going to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit to something a little more prestigious, like the Orange Bowl in Miami. But honestly, a win against Clemson would all I’d really be happy about, and given Virginia Tech’s performances in actual prestigious bowl games, getting into one of them creates this downward spiral of an insurmountable challenge all over again.
So despite the likely reality of another Clemson blowout win, here’s to hoping that Deshaun Watson starts thinking about his braced knee, and gets thoughts about jeopardizing his future NFL draft stock if he gets injured, and that he turns into the mediocre pocket passer he was when he lost to lowly Pitt. And because it wouldn’t be college football talk without some warped dannyhong logic, if there is absolutely one thing to be completely irrationally optimistic about it it’s the following:
Virginia Tech > Pitt
Pitt > Clemson
Virginia Tech > Clemson?
Seems legit. Go Hokies.
