Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Football Game Notes

Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Series Clemson has an 19-12-1 lead in the series with Virginia Tech. Clemson’s 23-3 vic­tory on October 1, 2011 ended Virginia Tech’s five-game winning streak in the series. Clemson had not defeated Virginia Tech since 1989 prior to the victory at Blacksburg last year.

The Tigers then defeated Virginia Tech 38-10 in the ACC Championship game in Char­lotte last year. It marked the first time Clemson had beaten the same team twice in one year. So after not defeating Virginia Tech since 1989, the Tigers outscored the Hokies 61-13 in the two games in 2011.

The five Virginia Tech wins prior to last year had spanned from 1998-2007 and took place in three different stadiums. Virginia Tech won at Clemson over Tommy West’s final team in 1998 by a 37-0 score, then won at Blacksburg the following year by a 31-11 score against Tom­my Bowden’s first Clemson team. Virginia Tech then defeated Clemson 41-20 behind Michael Vick at the 2001 Gator Bowl. Tech then won in 2006 at Blacksburg and 2007 at Clemson.

Other Notes of Interest

• The Clemson vs. Virginia Tech series is one of the oldest in the Clemson history books. The two teams first met in 1900 when the Tigers won 17-5 during John Heisman’s first year as head coach. That was Clemson’s fifth straight win in a 6-0 season in Heisman’s first year. That game was played in Charlotte, NC.
• Clemson actually had a nine-game winning streak in the series from 1955-89, including a 6-1 record against the Hokies in the decade of the 1980s.
• Clemson has a 6-3 advantage in the series in games played in Blacksburg, including a 4-2 lead in Lane Stadium.
• Virginia Tech won the 1999 game in Blacksburg, a 31-11 victory in a Thursday night game on ESPN. Clemson trailed just 17-11 late in the game, but Virginia Tech scored two touch­downs in the last four minutes. Clemson held Michael Vick to 7-16 passing for 88 yards and in­tercepted three of his passes, the most effective pass defense against Vick during that season. That Virginia Tech team went on to play Florida State for the National Championship.
• The 1956 Clemson vs. Virginia Tech game was a battle of top 15 teams. That game took place at Clemson and the Tigers won 21-6. . That was the first ever battle of top 20 teams in the history of Death Valley.
• Virginia Tech upset Clemson in the season opener at Clemson in 1986 by a 20-14 score behind coach Bill Dooley. That was one of just two season opening losses in Danny Ford’s Clemson career, and the Tigers lost just two games that season and went on to win the ACC. A blocked punt by Virginia Tech’s Mitch Dove was a key play in the game. Clemson’s punter that day was Bill Spiers, who went on to a 10-year major league baseball career.
• Clemson won the 1985 game at Virginia Tech by a 20-17 score on a 36-yard field goal by David Treadwell on the last play of the game. That was the season opener for both teams.
• Clemson had a three-game winning streak in the series between 1987-89. Clem­son’s defense was prominent, allowing just 24 points and two offensive touchdowns in those three games combined. All three of those Clem­son wins were against Frank Beamer, who came to Virginia Tech as head coach in 1987.
• Beamer has a 2-1 record against Clemson in Memorial Stadium and is 5-5 against the Tigers overall. He is 2-3 against the Tigers in Lane Stadium.

Military Appreciation Day is Celebrated during the Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Game The Clemson University Athletic Department will recognize and honor our fallen soldiers, veterans, and current military personnel serving in our armed forces during pregame, in game, and halftime ceremonies on Saturday.

Clemson wide receiver Daniel Rodri­guez, an army veteran with a Purple Heart, will lead the team down the hill during Clemson’s player entrance carrying an American Flag.

Veterans and current soldiers can participate in a parade to the stadium through the Clemson campus. The parade lineup is at 10:45 AM out­side of Holmes and McCabe dormitories on Fort Hill Street. The parade will begin at 11:00 AM and will end at the tunnel of Littlejohn Coliseum.

The colors will be presented by the Clemson University Company C-4 Pershing Rifles. At the conclusion of the national anthem prior to kickoff, four F-15E fighter jets from the 335th Fighter Squadron of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC will do a flyover of Memorial Stadium.

There will be a special presentation during pregame ceremonies to recognize Air Force Major Rudolf (Rudy) Anderson of Greenville, SC, who was killed when his U-2 plane was shot down 50 years ago this October 27 on a recon­naissance mission during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Maj. Anderson was the first recipient of the Air Force Cross and was a Clemson alum.

The South Carolina National Guard designed the coin used in the pregame coin toss. The commemorative coin honors all the soldiers killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At the end of the first quarter, there will be an enlistment ceremony of 50 Upstate residents into the United States Army and the United States Air Force.

All veterans and current soldiers from both schools are invited to participate in halftime cer­emonies by gathering in the West End Zone with five minutes remaining in the second quarter by using portals W and X.

Halftime ceremonies will feature the pa­rade of veterans and current soldiers onto the field. There will be a joint musical perfor­mance by the Virginia Tech band and Clemson bands. They will play “God Bless the USA,” the military hymns of the five service branches, and “Stars & Stripes Forever.”

Prior to the playing of TAPS, there will be a 21-gun salute from the “Scroll of Honor Memo­rial” (across the street from the stadium behind the East end zone) performed by a salute battery from Fort Jackson, SC.

At the end of the third quarter, there will be check presentation by Acosta and BI-LO to the Wounded Warriors Program along with a check presentation by Verizon to Honor Flight Upstate SC.

Tiger fans have the opportunity to take part by purchasing this year’s Military Appreciation Day t-shirt. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the shirt will go towards the Army and Air Force ROTC programs at Clemson University. The t-shirts are on sale for $15.95 at downtown Clemson clothing stores.