Ethan Grunkemeyer threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 1:44 left as visiting Virginia Tech slipped past Clemson 20-16 in an Atlantic Coast Conference defensive struggle on Saturday.
Both of Grunkemeyer’s scoring passes went to Luke Reynolds. The go-ahead score came on a fourth-and-1 play from the Clemson 5, when Grunkemeyer lobbed a pass to Reynolds, who was alone in the back of the end zone.
It was the second straight win for the Hokies (6-2, 3-2 ACC) after suffering their first two losses under first-year coach James Franklin.
Grunkemeyer completed 20 of 32 passes for 156 yards with no interceptions. His top targets were Reynolds (seven receptions, 44 yards) and Que’Sean Brown (five receptions, 69 yards).
Tait Reynolds completed 20 of 26 passes for 153 yards and ran for 63 yards and a touchdown for Clemson (4-3, 2-2), which lost its second straight conference game.
After the Tigers reeled off 13 straight points in the third quarter to take a 16-10 lead, the Hokies responded, scoring the game’s final 10 points.
After Virginia Tech’s game-winning score, which capped a 69-yard drive, the Hokies defense made the final stop.
On a first-down play, Jaquez White sacked Tait Reynolds, then three plays later on fourth down, Mylachi Williams followed with another sack at the Clemson 49.
Much of the first half was a defensive stalemate, with each team’s first four possessions yielding one field goal apiece.
John Love struck first in the first quarter with a 37-yard field goal for Virginia Tech. Then Nolan Hauser drilled the 34-yard equalizer in the second.
The Hokies closed the first half with an 87-yard, 17-play drive which chewed seven minutes off the clock.
Grunkemeyer ran a quarterback sneak to convert a fourth-and-1 midway through the drive, then finished it with a 6-yard touchdown pass in the flat to Luke Reynolds, giving Virginia Tech a 10-3 lead.
But the third quarter was all Clemson. The Tigers got field goals of 49 and 36 yards from Hauser sandwiched around a 65-yard touchdown drive to take a 16-10 lead.
Tait Reynolds accounted for all but two of the yards in the scoring march, which he finished with a 16-yard touchdown run.
Early in the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech narrowed the deficit to 16-13 with a 47-yard field goal from Love.
Virginia Tech finished with 13 tackles for loss, including two each from Kaleb Spencer and Noah Chambers.