Roanoke

Hokies aim to finish on defense with 19th-ranked Clemson on deck

A.Hernandez24 min ago

BLACKSBURG — It's a mentality the Virginia Tech defense has displayed against opposing offenses several times this season. The Hokies will "get a foot on their neck (and not) take it off," according to sophomore cornerback Dante Lovett, and the eventual pressure won't "even give them no hope."

Tech utilized that approach in wins over Marshall, Old Dominion, Stanford and Georgia Tech. The Hokies were wobbly for a bit against Boston College before the suffocating defense took over in the fourth quarter.

Tech's foot slipped off Syracuse's neck last weekend. The Orange were given a needed breath. It was just what the hosts needed to rally, score a late touchdown to force overtime and then secure a walk-off victory.

Sound familiar? It should, because it happened three other times this season.

"I feel like we let up a little bit and it just gave them hope to keep pushing down the field," Lovett said. "You just keep giving them little by little and they took advantage of their opportunities."

Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Miami and Syracuse took advantage of the slightest of openings with drives that resulted in points after the two-minute timeout in the fourth quarter. All four drives looked different, but they had the same result with the Hokies' defense being unable to get off the field and preserve the lead.

Vanderbilt and Rutgers used big plays for quick-strike drives that lasted less than three minutes each. Miami and Syracuse used methodical drives that surgically dissected the Tech defense over more than 4 1/2 minutes apiece.

"We've got to make them earn it," Hokies coach Brent Pry said. "And against a good team, you don't make them earn it, you're going to be in trouble."

Vanderbilt, Rutgers and Miami each scored on the first play after the two-minute timeout to cap their respective drives. Syracuse finished its game-tying drive with 29 seconds left on LeQuint Allen's 1-yard touchdown dive.

"This week again, I feel like we're not playing at the same level down the stretch. There's a couple of games I've felt that way," Pry said. "So we're looking at what we're doing on that side of the ball from a conditioning standpoint, from a practice reps standpoint, from a rotation standpoint, all those things. I think it's also just about composure in that situation and a mindset to win the game. We have to be the aggressor. We have to be on the attack in that situation. I don't know that the mindset's been there."

The Hokies (5-4, 3-2 ACC) will need to be aggressive on defense against a Clemson offense that proved it can score quickly and has recently been able to finish methodical drives with points.

The Tigers (6-2, 5-1) have recorded 51 scoring drives through eight games. Thirty-eight of those drives needed nine or fewer plays to either find the end zone or end with a field goal.

Eleven of their 13 scoring drives of 10 plays or more have come in the last four games against Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia and Louisville.

Clemson won the time of possession battle in each of the last four games.

"If the offense is out there on the field that long, a lot of things don't go well for the defense," Lovett said, "so we've just got to get off the field more."

The Tigers boast one of the ACC's best units by ranking in the top five in rushing, passing, total and scoring offense.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik has plenty of talented skill players led by running back Phil Mafah and a veteran offensive line that has allowed eight sacks this season.

"They give him good protection, good time. He doesn't get sacked, and he's got a great arsenal of receivers," Pry said of Klubnik and the Clemson offense. "He's got a talented tight end. They've got a ground game. It's a really nice offensive unit, and he certainly leads the way."

The Hokies followed up their stingiest performance against the run against Georgia Tech by allowing 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns at Syracuse.

It marked the eighth time they have allowed at least 130 rushing yards this season, and Clemson brings in the ACC's top rushing attack at 202.6 yards per contest.

Mafah ranks behind North Carolina's Omarion Hampton and Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten in rushing yards per game in the ACC.

Mafah is averaging 106.6 yards per game and has scored eight rushing touchdowns. He has scored two rushing touchdowns in three straight games.

"This week will be a good challenge for us again," Pry said of the team's run defense. "We've been a little bit Jekyll and Hyde. We've had some really good weeks and we've had some weeks where we haven't defended the run well enough."

Pry said Wednesday that Tech had its most competitive practice of the season on Tuesday and followed it up with another strong practice Wednesday.

He is hoping the Hokies can continue a trend of bouncing back after losses. They are 2-1 after setbacks, with the lone loss coming in heartbreaking fashion at Miami.

"I think we're a confident group. Coming out of this game, there's so many things that we do well, that our team positive session on Sunday was great," Pry said. "Just a bunch of good clips and a bunch of things to talk about where they need to be. And when you have a tremendous opportunity with a team like Clemson coming in, you have an opportunity, a challenge to let's put ourselves in a position to win a game, then let's go do it. That's the goal right now and I think they're excited to do that."

Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124