Clemson - Virginia Tech Postgame Notes

The following game notes were compiled and written by Clemson Sports Information.

GAME NOTES

• Clemson held Virginia Tech to a season-low 234 yards and outgained the Hokies, 288-234. Virginia Tech entered the week averaging 449.7 yards per game, including five games of 400 or more yards this season. 
• Clemson is now 65-3 since 2005 when holding opponents to 235 or fewer yards. Two of those losses were Virginia Tech’s last two victories against Clemson (219 yards in 2007, 234 yards on Saturday). That record includes a 55-2 mark under Dabo Swinney; before Saturday, the most recent such loss was at NC State in 2023 (202 yards). 

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• Clemson has now held consecutive opponents to fewer than 250 yards for the first time since 2024 against Florida State and Wake Forest.
• Clemson held Virginia Tech to 164 passing yards. Virginia Tech entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in passing offense at 301.6 yards per game.
• Clemson recorded a season-high six sacks, its most since last November against Florida State (six).
• Clemson has now recorded at least four sacks in consecutive games for the first time since 2023 against Georgia Tech and North Carolina. 
• The sacks contributed to Clemson’s 10 tackles for loss. Clemson has now produced back-to-back games with double-digit tackles for loss for the first time since September 2023 against Charleston Southern and Florida Atlantic.
• The game featured no turnovers by either team. It was the first Clemson game with no turnovers by either team since the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State.
• Quarterback Tait Reynolds completed 20-of-26 passes for 153 yards and added career highs in rushing attempts (18), rushing yards (63) and rushing touchdowns (one).
• Reynolds led Clemson in both rushing and passing, becoming the first Clemson quarterback to do so since Cade Klubnik in the 2022 ACC Championship Game.
• Reynolds’ 76.9 completion percentage was a career high, surpassing his 69.0 against North Carolina.
• Reynolds capped a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive by scoring his first career rushing touchdown on a 16-yard run in the third quarter.
• Reynolds recorded a career-long-tying 20-yard run to end the first quarter.
• Reynolds recorded a career-long streak of 13 consecutive completions in the game.
• Wide receiver Tyler Brown led Clemson in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (62).
• On a 27-yard third-down reception in the third quarter, Brown (1,010) reached 1,000 career receiving yards.
• Wide receiver T.J. Moore extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 34 games, tying Aaron Kelly (34 from 2006-08) for the sixth-longest streak in Clemson history.
• Defensive end Will Heldt recorded a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks, the fourth such game of his career. It marked the third game this season in which he has posted 2.0 sacks.
• Heldt became the fifth player in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure to record at least three games in a single season with 2.0 or more sacks, joining Da’Quan Bowers (five in 2010), Andre Branch (three in 2011), Vic Beasley (four in 2013) and Clelin Ferrell (three in 2018).
• Heldt recorded his fifth sack of the season on a third down in the second quarter and added his sixth in the third quarter.
• Defensive tackle Amare Adams recorded his first official sack of his career on a third down in the first quarter. Adams had a sack on a two-point conversion at LSU earlier this season, but stats are not credited on conversion attempts.
• Defensive end Jahiem Lawson recorded his second sack of the season on a third down in the first quarter.
• Safety Corey Myrick and defensive lineman Caden Story split a second-quarter sack. The half-sack was Myrick’s first of his career, and Story has now contributed to a sack in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
• Defensive lineman Darien Mayo recorded his first career sack on a third down in the third quarter.
• A first down on Virginia Tech’s third third down of the game snapped a streak in which Clemson had not allowed a first down on 14 consecutive third downs, dating to Oct. 3. 
• Kicker Nolan Hauser went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, including field goals of 34, 49 and 36 yards.
• The game represented the sixth time in Hauser’s career and the fourth time this season that he has recorded three or more field goals in a single game.
• Hauser also punted twice, including a career-long 63-yard punt in the second quarter. It was the first Clemson punt of 60 or more yards since Aidan Swanson recorded punts of both 60 and 62 yards against Florida State in 2023.
• With his second field goal, Hauser (53) passed Jad Dean (51) for eighth in career field goals in Clemson history.
• On the same kick, Hauser (268) passed Chris Gardocki (261) for seventh in Clemson history in career kick scoring and for 11th overall in Clemson history in career points of any kind.
• Kicker Robert Gunn III appeared in his 50th career game, the most among active Clemson players.
• Clemson snuffed out a fake punt in the second quarter, stopping a completed pass short of the line to gain. Clemson’s last stop on a fake punt prior to the game came in September 2023 when Florida Atlantic was stopped short of the line to gain on a pass completion.
• Clemson dropped to 24-13-1 all-time against Virginia Tech and 9-7-1 against the Hokies at home.
• The defeat snapped Clemson’s seven-game winning streak in the series.
• Dabo Swinney dropped to 7-1 all-time against Virginia Tech.
• Clemson is now 154-8 when leading after three quarters since the start of the 2011 season. Clemson is 170-11 in such games under Swinney.
• Clemson is now 131-5 in its last 136 games when holding teams to fewer than 23 points, a span that dates to the middle of the 2010 season. 
• Clemson is now 42-16 in one-possession games since the start of the 2011 season, still the highest winning percentage (.724) in the country in one-score games in that span.

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• Virginia Tech Head Coach James Franklin became the 100th different head coach faced by Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney. 
• Virginia Tech made only its third trip to Death Valley since joining the ACC in 2004. 

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• The game was Clemson’s fifth night game of the 2026 season, matching the 1949 and 2022 campaigns for Clemson’s most night games through the first seven games of a season in school history.
• Clemson’s captains for the contest were linebacker Sammy Brown, wide receiver Tyler Brown, running back Gideon Davidson and defensive end Will Heldt. 

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