Gideon Davidson was such a hot commodity out of high school. The Lynchburg native was one of the best high school prospects out of the Commonwealth of Virginia. While Davidson only had 19 offers before picking Clemson, his home state's two flagship universities, Virginia and Virginia Tech, were chief among them, as were his hometown Liberty Flames. Clearly, Davidson made the wisest choice.
Not to say Virginia Tech was ever going to beat out Clemson for Davidson's services, as illustrated by the change at the helm of the Hokies program this past offseason. However, Saturday night marks an inflection point for Davidson in his college career. If he can put together another one of his amazing performances, then there is no looking back. If he is a non-factor in this one, that could be an issue.
On the season, Davidson has 430 rushing yards on 79 carries for five touchdowns. He also has four catches out of the Clemson backfield for nine yards. In every game that Clemson has won this year, Davidson has had at least 13 carries out of the backfield. That number had been 14 carries prior to last week's game against Charleston Southern. Davidson and many of the starters got pulled early.
For Clemson to improve to 5-2, all Davidson may need is for Chad Morris to call his number 13 times.
Gideon Davidson is the type of player who can end Virginia Tech's season
Entering this game, Virginia Tech's biggest weakness is its inability to hold onto leads in the second half. The Hokies will let seemingly anyone back into the game, especially when taking on a Power Four foe. Fortunately, Davidson is every bit the second-half player. He is the type of back who needs his carries to positively affect change within the context of the game. Morris tends to forget this fact...
The reason why Davidson could be the player to deliver the knockout punch is that Clemson will want to win the time-of-possession battle after halftime. In all four of Clemson's wins so far this season, the Tigers' defense has surrendered only a pair of field goals after halftime. A field goal versus UNC and another three-point try against Cal. That is it. Davidson may be the key to unlocking everything.
Yes, Clemson's offense needs to become multi-dimensional to get the best of Brent Pry's Hokies defense. This is why Tait Reynolds needs to rely on Christian Bentancur more in the short-to-medium passing game, in addition to leaning on Davidson in the ground game. While Clemson playing some complementary football should be paramount, as long as Davidson gets his, the Tigers should win.
Because this is a game versus an opponent that Davidson may care a great deal about, it makes it so easy to bet on him to shine his brightest against the Hokies. Clemson and Virginia Tech are two of only a handful of teams left that still may have aspirations of getting to Charlotte. Miami may be a lock to play in the ACC Championship Game, but the other ticket is more up for grabs than expected.
Look for Davidson to do his best to approach 100 yards on the ground with his 13 or more carries.
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