Biggest winners and losers from Clemson's heartbreaking home defeat to Virginia Tech

It was just not meant to be. Despite playing competitive football for four quarters, Clemson simply did not have enough offensive firepower to keep pace with Ethan Grunkemeyer, Luke Reynolds, and the rest of the Virginia Tech Hokies offense. Clemson needed to play its best football in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but was unable to do that against the Hokies. They lost 20-16 in a heartbreaker.

This now brings Clemson to a rather miserable 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in ACC play. Any chances this team had of making the College Football Playoff are over with and done. The Tigers will need a miracle to somehow get to Charlotte, now that 6-2 Virginia Tech owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. Frankly, this was a game Clemson should have had. Maybe the coaching staff will look in the mirror for once?

Here are the biggest winners and losers from Clemson's season-defining home loss to Virginia Tech.

Winner: Will Heldt answered the bell with one of his better performances

After disappearing for the better part of three weeks, Will Heldt came to play for the Clemson pass rush. He had two of Clemson's six sacks on Grunkemeyer on the evening. Of his four tackles, the two sacks went for a loss of yardage. He also had a pass breakup on defense. It is a shame that the Tigers' offense could not do much of anything yet again. Heldt did enough to slow down the Hokies' offense.

If there is anything positive to be gleaned from this game, it is that Heldt has made himself a lot of money next spring. While it remains to be seen if he will be a first-round pick, having six sacks through seven games is a great way to turn some talent evaluators' heads. His combination of size, speed, and relentlessness should have him coming off the board long before the end of day two at the latest.

If any Clemson player deserved to taste victory after Saturday night's loss, it would have to be Heldt.

Loser: Chad Morris may not make it through the season with Clemson

You can do anything in your life short of being an astronaut because Chad Morris is the offensive coordinator of Clemson. When Dabo Swinney called out his entire staff during his on-field halftime interview, it was abundantly clear he was talking about his offensive guys. Yes, Matt Luke's offensive line could not consistently block well, but so much of Morris' play-calling belonged in the stone age.

For as bad as things looked under Garrett Riley a year ago, Morris' play-calling has been the floor for Clemson. If not for Tom Allen's stellar defense, this team might be winless. With Swinney having to use a play sheet during the second half, it is clear that either a demotion happened, or it is about to occur. Either way, Clemson's offense should not be this discombobulated this late into the season.

If Morris is no longer with the program before the Florida State game, would anyone be surprised?

Winner: Tom Allen did all he could to beat his former boss, James Franklin

All four of Clemson's wins are because of Allen's defense and Rich Bisaccia's specials teams unit. Clemson competes so hard in two of the game's three phrases. Too bad we are stuck with watching the ACC version of Kirk Ferentz's Iowa. Allen will never get the credit for what he is being asked to do on defense like Phil Parker has done for years in Iowa City. 20 points should have been enough to win.

Yes, Clemson had a hard time containing Reynolds at tight end, but the Virginia Tech star could be the next George Kittle for all we know. Allen has thrived in his second season as Clemson's defensive coordinator. It may not be enough for him to get another Power Four head-coaching opportunity just yet, but he will have options beyond merely that of Clemson this offseason should he want to leave.

Allen answered the challenge of having to go up against his former boss in James Franklin tonight.

Loser: Tait Reynolds has not thrown for a touchdown in over a month

It should not matter that we feel bad for him. Reynolds has not progressed like anyone could have hoped for at quarterback. He is not looking downfield often enough to make a positive impact in the passing game. While he did have 18 carries for 63 yards and a rushing touchdown on the night, he was held under 200 yards passing for yet another week. He did not throw any interceptions, though.

That being said, you cannot win ACC games at home versus a competent opponent when you only throw for 153 yards on 20-of-26 passes. Reynolds averaging 5.9 yards per attempt is not the metric you should be hoping for out of your starting quarterback some five starts into his career. Although Grunkemeyer only averaged 4.9 yards per attempt, he had two passing touchdowns for Virginia Tech.

There is no program in FBS that is worse at throwing the football for touchdowns than Clemson.

Winner: Tyler Brown was a reliable pass catcher throughout the game

Last week was Christian Bentancur's time to shine in the receiving game for Clemson. On Saturday, Tyler Brown went to work with his great all-around game. He had a game high eight catches for 62 yards. There was one drive early in the game where Reynolds kept throwing him the football, and it was working out to perfection.

While TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. have had their moments this season between the 20s, this was Brown's day in the spotlight. He offered a great deal of elusiveness between the hash marks that may potentially translate to something good offensively later on. The maddening part of it all is Clemson appears to have the receiving corps to hang with anyone, just not the quarterback or the play-caller.

It was performances like today where you can honestly see Brown playing on future NFL Sundays.

Loser: Elliot Washington II's mental lapses late cost Clemson dearly

This was the one part of the game that broke everyone's heart. It was a massive opportunity for cornerback Elliot Washington II to prove he made the right choice in following Allen to Clemson, and not Franklin to Virginia Tech. Washington had been a strong and reliable player throughout the season, but he saved his worst moments for the most inopportune times. He totally melted down.

There was a play where Grunkemeyer ran out of bounds, but it would have been a 10-yard holding penalty. Instead, Washington was too aggressive and hit his former Penn State teammate for a bad penalty. Only a few plays later, he got too handsy on an interception attempt in the end zone. The pass interference call played a big part in setting up Grunkemeyer's game-winning touchdown pass.

For as clutch as Washington was against North Carolina and Cal, he was anything but that tonight.

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