Our Distinguished Opponent: Redemption

I'm not going to make excuses.

First time up, Clemson beat us. They beat the shit out of us. They humiliated us at home, at night, worse than we've been humiliated in a long time. They made me question if all the progress I thought I had seen up to that point with Mike O'Cain as our play caller had just been wishful thinking. In its own way that loss hit me harder than even the JMU debacle, if only because I could wrap my mind around losing on four days rest against a lackluster, taken for granted opponent more easily than I could wrap my mind around a prime time bedshitting like I witnessed against Clemson. But give the Devil his due. Clemson beat us. There's nothing we can do to change that.

This Saturday in Charlotte isn't about revenge. There is no revenge to be exacted for us not showing up against them the first time around. Beating them now won't take away the loss in October, and it won't make it any easier to swallow. This is about redemption, proving that what we saw on the field against Yabo Dabo in early October was a fluke that does not represent what this Virginia Tech team is and what it can do.

Virginia Tech takes the field in its fifth ACC championship game Saturday the matchup will be between two teams that have moved in opposite directions since their meeting in October:

	Virginia Tech	Clemson
Wins	7	4
Losses	0	3
Avg Points Scored	31.3	32.1
Avg Points Allowed	17.6	32.4

With the exception of Boston College and maybe North Carolina, every game Clemson has played in since playing us has either been a shootout or they've gotten routed. They're actually giving up more points than they score over the last seven games, and they have scored a LOT of points during that run. Part of what is going on is, of course, that Clemson is Clemson. I mean, honestly, who didn't see this coming? Another part of it is that there is now enough tape to study to fully exploit Clemson's bad defense to fullest possible potential. And part of it has been the deconstruction of Tajh Boyd.

Here is a comparison of what Tajh Boyd and Logan Thomas have each done the last four games:

	Boyd	Thomas
Passing TDs	4	8
INTs	7	2
Rushing TDs	0	4

It's not hard to see why the teams' records are what they are. Thomas has come on strong down the stretch while Boyd has faded somewhat. Some of that might be the injury that has essentially removed Sammy Watkins from Clemson's offense, but to see such an incredible nose dive from a player who looked like an All American QB through the first half of the season is unexpected.
On paper, the way these two teams are playing lately it seems like VT has to be the hands down favorite to win in Charlotte, and that makes me nervous. For one thing, the crowd at Bank of America stadium is going to be 90% Clemson, if only because Clemson has been in for two weeks now while VT just clinched this past Saturday. For another thing, this game represents the last real shot in the season to prove that Clemson isn't... y'know... Clemson. The Tigers will be playing with a chip on their shoulder and motivation shouldn't be lacking.
But we have the blueprint on how to beat the Tigers this time around. Georgia Tech and South Carolina gave it to us: run the ball down their fucking throats. (As an aside, I don't know what the hell we learned from the Tigers' loss to NC State.) We want to run zone read all night long, with a 50/50 split of LT trucking them inside and Wilson stretching them to the perimeter. Then we want to mix in some play action to stretch the field. And for the love of God just keep going. That's my plea to Frank Beamer this week. Up by 50? Try to go up 75. Five hundred yards total offense? Shoot for a grand. Because we've seen that Clemson can come back in a hurry (against Maryland and Wake Forest) and they aren't out of it till they start talking about Steve Spurrier. 
On defense, it's all about pressuring Tajh Boyd. Gayle and Collins have to get pressure early and often off the corner. Look for Bud to throw multiple looks at Boyd to try to get him off his game, because it's now well established that the kid has an aversion to contact and once rattled takes about three possessions to recover, if at all. We also need Hosley, Fuller, Hill, and Bonner to lock down the semi-healed Sammy Watkins like they did the first time around. 
But here's the problem I have going into Charlotte: this is the same damn script we needed and failed to follow on October 1. They're the same team - the same quick strike offense, the same porous defense - that we thought we had a handle on going under the lights in Blacksburg. They might be a little more "Clemson" (in the traditional, Tommy Bowden sense of the word) than they were the first time around,  but they're essentially the same team we saw before. What reason do we have to believe that things will be different this time around?
Well, there's this....

Hokie, redeem thy self.