CLEMSON: It will be Homecoming for the Clemson Tigers this Saturday as they begin a stretch of five straight weeks against ACC foes. The Tigers are still in the race for a place in the ACC Championship Game with a 2-1 league record and 4-2 mark overall. The Hokies are coming off a 34-24 win over Georgia Tech at Lane Stadium and are 2-2 in the ACC and 5-2 overall.

First year Hokie head coach James Franklin brought his quarterback, Ethan Grunkemeyer, with him from Penn State. The Tigers saw Grunkemeyer in the Pinstripe Bowl last season when he passed for 262 yards and two touchdowns in a Penn State win.

Grunkemeyer is part of a three-headed offensive monster for Tech according to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. He leads the ACC averaging 283 passing yards per game. Running back Jeffery Overton Jr. is second in the ACC with 613 rushing yards, and second in yards per carry. And receiver Que’Sean Brown is fourth in the league with 88 receiving yards per game, and fifth with 46 receptions.

The Tigers are coming off a get-right performance in the shutout win over Charleston Southern last Saturday, a performance Swinney has called the team’s best of the season. Swinney believes freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds continues to progress, and backup Christopher Vizzina had his best practice on Monday since the week of the Georgia Southern game.

Clemson is a 2.5 point favorite to extend its winning streak over Virginia Tech to eight. The Tigers lost in their Homecoming game last season to Duke. They last time they lost back-to-back Homecoming games was in 1952 to Villanova and 1953 to Auburn.

Key Comments From Dabo Swinney

• Good football team coming in, well coached, he and James Franklin are friends, he’s a great coach, quarterback they have seen and he’s a really good player.
• Lot of explosives on offense, very good at running back, receiver and tight end with individuals at those spots, Brown at WR catches everything, they get the quarterback off the spot all the time with boots and he creates time and allows guys to get open.
• They’ve got to do a good job tackling and win the turnover margin, something they haven’t done.
• VT defense looks similar to North Carolina, very tough up front, they lead the nation in tackles for loss, it’s a very good team with excellent special teams, they have the #1 punt returner in the country.
• They are where they want to be, they are in a position to have a shot in the ACC, something they didn’t have at this time last year, they played their best game of the season last week and they need to build on that.
• TJ Moore probably had his worst game at Clemson last Saturday, but he’ll bounce back. He’s had a lot of good games.
• The game is slowing down for Reynolds, he’s grown, he’s played six games, he had growth last week with his runs and not taking sacks, made some good deep ball throws, his command and leadership are growing.
• Doesn’t matter what he thinks about expanded playoffs, he’s made his opinion known since 2021, people don’t realize the unintended consequences until they happen, all he cares about is beating Virginia Tech.
• Virginia Tech will move Brown all around, he makes plays with people all over him, impressed with him, also impressed with TE Luke Reynolds, they are playing with a lot of confidence and very crisp on offense.
• Expects Jarvis Green to be back this week from injury.
• Vizzina had his best practice last night since the Georgia Southern week, really ripped the ball, he’s been a great leader, he looked more like himself in practice last night.
• Vizzina looks to be getting close to being ready to play.
• On his belief that his program is a developmental program, you still have to develop players whether you get them from high school or portal, citing the work they’ve done with Starr, Washington and Reynolds.
• They have a great program here, he’s worked every day and every hour for 24 years to have the best program he can at Clemson, they’ve made more good decisions than bad over the years, they are working to get back to the top where they were for many years.
• Hevin Brown-Shuler has been an inspiration to the team in his battle with cancer, he brings a new perspective to everything, he will have his final chemo treatment Thursday and is making great progress.
• The Brown-Shuler situation is a win and shows unbelievable positivity with the doctors and nurses and the treatment they have given him, he plans to be with him Thursday when he rings the bell.

Dabo Swinney Press Conference Previewing Virginia Tech