Well, hey there, y'all! Dixie-Lynn Pruitt here, former Tiger Band flag captain, sitting on my porch in an orange rocking chair named Darlene, sipping sweet tea from an orange cup named Beauregard. I own 43 orange items, and every one of them has a name. I read defensive rotations like halftime choreography: everybody's got a spot, everybody's got a count, and if one person misses a step, the whole formation looks like a kitchen drawer.
On Saturday, sugar, every Tiger hit every count.
Orange you glad I said it?
Part 1: A Shutout in the Valley
Clemson beat Charleston Southern 37-0 at Death Valley on Saturday. We're 4-2. And it was Clemson's first shutout in five seasons, the first since we beat South Carolina 30-0 in 2021.
We scored on our first five possessions. Nolan Hauser opened with a 41-yard field goal. Chris Johnson Jr. ran in from 6 yards. Gideon Davidson ran in from 7. Johnson scored again from 2 yards out. Then, on the very next kickoff, we forced a fumble and safety Kylon Griffin scooped it up and ran 17 yards for a touchdown. That's what I call a flag routine with a surprise toss at the end.
And then, y'all, Hauser. With 47 seconds left before halftime, he kicked a 59-yard field goal that just inched over the crossbar. It's his career long. It beat his famous 56-yarder, the walk-off kick that won Clemson the 2024 ACC title over SMU. My orange throw pillow, Lula Mae, went flying clear across the den. He added a 44-yarder in the fourth quarter for the only points of the second half.
The defense? Choreography, darling. Charleston Southern finished with 76 yards. It went 0 for 11 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down. We ran for 231 yards, two weeks after Miami held us to 55. Clemson is now 41-0 all-time against FCS teams.
I'll be honest, because my mama raised me right. Charleston Southern is an FCS team, and we threw two interceptions late. It's one step in the routine, not the whole show. But it was the best we've looked all year, and our coach said the same thing afterward.
And here's my most beloved part of the whole day. It was Military Appreciation Day, and an offensive lineman whose parents both served in the Army carried the American flag down the hill during our entrance. Bless that young man. I cried into an orange hanky named Myrtle.
Part 2: The Gobblers Come to the Valley
Saturday, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. Virginia Tech (5-2) at Clemson (4-2) at Memorial Stadium. A Saturday night in Death Valley. Mercy, I can already hear the cannon.
Grading the Hokies' Routine
Let me be sweet first. Virginia Tech can throw it. Ethan Grunkemeyer completes 72.6% of his passes, with 1,984 yards, 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Que'Sean Brown just caught six passes for 182 yards against Georgia Tech. Aycen Stevens has eight sacks, and their run defense allows only 87.4 yards a game, 10th in FBS. That's a real dance company.
Now, honey, the critique.
Virginia Tech lost at home to Pittsburgh, 35-33. Then it lost at Cal, 25-20. And that Cal team just lost 41-7 at home to Wake Forest last Saturday. Bless their hearts. The Hokies' pass defense allows 227.3 yards a game, 95th in FBS. And they're minus-4 in turnover margin, 113th.
Their best wins? VMI, 73-3. Old Dominion. Maryland. Boston College by a touchdown. Georgia Tech, which is 2-4. Sugar, that's a lovely recital. But this is the Valley on a Saturday night.
Grading Our Own Routine
I don't fib, so here's the honest scorecard. Our offense gains 340.7 yards a game, 110th in FBS. Our passing game is 112th. We convert 33.3% on third down, 116th. We're minus-4 in turnovers too. We lost 51-10 at LSU to open the season, and Miami beat us 41-13 at home. And last season we went 7-6, per CollegeFootballData. That's not the Clemson I know.
But our defense allows 21.5 points a game, 49th in FBS, and its pass defense ranks 39th. Will Heldt has four sacks, and Corey Myrick leads us with 44 tackles. Davidson has 430 rushing yards and five touchdowns. If we can keep the ball moving on the ground the way we did Saturday, we can keep Grunkemeyer on the sideline.
The Choreography Chart
Here's my flag-captain blocking for Saturday night. Count one: run the ball with Davidson and Johnson and let Death Valley get loud. Count two: keep Tait Reynolds out of third-and-long, because that's where we've struggled all year. Count three: Heldt and the front have to get to Grunkemeyer before he finds Brown deep. Count four: no turnovers. Both teams are minus-4 this year, so whoever cleans that up first probably wins the routine. Hit all four counts, and it's a standing ovation.
History in the Valley
Clemson leads the series 23-11-1, according to CollegeFootballData, and we've won the last six meetings, dating to 2011. That includes a 42-35 win in Orlando in 2016. The last time the Hokies played in Death Valley, in 2012, Clemson won 38-17.
Postcards: Clemson vs. Blacksburg
Clemson. Clemson is a sweet little city of 17,681, and on game days, Memorial Stadium holds 81,500. You read that right. Our stadium holds more than four times our town. It opened on Sept. 19, 1942, with a 32-13 win over Presbyterian College. And in 2007, against Boston College, Death Valley set a record as the loudest stadium in college football at 133 decibels.
Then there's Howard's Rock. In the early 1960s, a friend gave coach Frank Howard a rock from Death Valley, California, saying it was from Death Valley to Death Valley. The Tigers have rubbed it since 1967. Our mascot is a tiger, and our good luck charm is a rock. Neither one has ever gobbled.
Blacksburg. Blacksburg is a charming mountain town. I'll give them that. But I did some reading, and their mascot, the HokieBird, is officially a large, anthropomorphic turkey. The team used to be called the Fighting Gobblers. Darling, we come out to a cannon. They come out to Thanksgiving dinner.
And the word "Hokie"? It comes from a spirit yell written for a contest in 1896, and whatever it originally meant is still a matter of debate. So Virginia Tech's nickname is a word from a cheer contest that nobody can define. My orange dictionary, Ophelia, has no entry for it.
Lane Stadium's first game, in 1965, ended Virginia Tech 9, William & Mary 7. Sixteen points combined. That's not a football game, honey. That's a quiet afternoon on the porch.
Final Formation
Here's how I see the routine. Virginia Tech has a sharp quarterback, a tough run defense and a pass defense that ranks 95th. Clemson has the Valley, the Rock, a defense that just pitched a shutout and a running game that finally found its rhythm. If we protect the ball and make Grunkemeyer throw into a loud Saturday night crowd, the Hokies will be gobbling all the way home. That's not a guarantee, friends. It's a forecast from somebody who has watched this team grow up all season long. Bring your loudest voice, your brightest orange and your best manners for the visitors, because a Saturday night in the Valley is a family affair.
Orange you glad I said it? Go Tigers!
My call: Clemson Tigers 27, Virginia Tech Hokies 24.