Following a stunning 33-21 loss to the Louisville Cardinals, the Clemson Tigers will look to rebound Saturday when they head to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium.
Clemson’s loss to Louisville dropped them nine spots to No. 17 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll. In the initial College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, Dabo Swinney and the Tigers (6-2 overall) ranked No. 23.
To say the least, Cade Klubnik and crew need a lot of things to go their way to even get back into playoff consideration. That starts by taking care of a Virginia Tech team that is 5-4 overall.
Like Louisville, the Hokies’ record is a bit misleading. All four of their losses this season have been by seven points or less, including a 38-31 overtime loss at Syracuse last Saturday.
According to multiple news reports, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones will not play Saturday. The Hokies will reportedly turn to backup QB Collin Schlee, a transfer from UCLA.
On Thursday, the six-member panel of Dan Wolken, Paul Myerberg, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith all predicted the Tigers to win Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech in the group’s weekly Top 25 college football predictions.
Kickoff for Saturday’s Clemson-Virginia Tech game is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.
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