Keys to the game for Clemson's matchup with Virginia

Stay healthy

This is in no way meant to be disrespectful to Virginia, but Clemson has bigger fish to fry later this season. 

As a player, you obviously can’t have that mentality. On any given Saturday, you can be knocked off just like the rest of college football. But as fans and media members, we can talk about the reality of the situation. Clemson has Louisville, Pittsburgh, and South Carolina left to play. They need to be as healthy as possible for those three games, which are coming up very quickly.

Dabo Swinney has a philosophy to play Clemson's brand of football no matter the score, which includes playing starters even as the scoring margin grows. Personally, I love that philosophy. When you've won the game, treat it as practice and play for extra reps.

However, there's a race at the top of the ACC. SMU and Miami are also vying for a spot in the ACC championship, so winning conference games are important. None of them play the other and are undefeated in conference play. Once one team loses its first ACC game, its championship aspirations are no longer in its hands. One — or both — of the other two need to lose a conference game to keep the first team's ACC hopes alive.

If the game against Virginia gets out of hand quickly, Clemson should pull back and play conservatively. Imagine if Virginia is down by three or more scores late to the game and Mafah, Klubnik, Barrett Carter, Peter Woods, or any number of starters get hurt. Of course, they'll have the 'next man up' mentality, but that's not the point. Clemson's depth is young, and against good competition, that's a liability.