(Click to Enlarge)

Hokie fans definitely weren't passing up this opportunity to rush the field. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Mager, Planet Blacksburg)

I'm not going to lie. Though I'm a true Hokie fan at heart, I'm still a realist.

Going into this one, there was no doubt in my mind that Clemson, the No. 10 team in the country as well as the nation's top scoring offense at 42 points a contest, was going to absolutely blow the Hokies out of the water.

Come to think of it, in hindsight, if worse came to worse for the Tigers, I thought they'd at least be able to cover the spread, which was set at a measly four points.

Boy was I wrong, and for once, it didn't bother me one bit.

Two weeks to the day after getting absolutely demolished on ESPN's Thursday nightcap against Boston College, the Hokies got an against-all-odds win over the visiting Tigers, proving that they should still be in the running as one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's best.

What impressed me the most about the Hokies' play Thursday night was the performance given by Branden Ore and the offensive line against the nation's seventh ranked run defense, which came into the game allowing just 72 yards a game.

Down on the field for this game, I couldn't believe what I was seeing unfold right before my eyes. Play after play after play Virginia Tech was stuffing the ball into Ore's hands, solely relying on his ability to make a play as he carried the ball a career high 37 times for 203 yards and two scores.

The dominance in which the Hokies displayed in their running game against the Tigers was nothing short of spectacular, and in all honesty, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. Yes, an actual surprise, even after Ore's 207 yard performance just five days prior against Southern Mississippi. The reasoning behind this sudden shock was due to the fact that fresh on my mind were Ore's 59 and 71 yard performances in the Georgia Tech and Boston College losses, respectively.

Leading up to kickoff, it all boiled down to the fact that we were yet to see a game-breaking performance from Ore against a top tier team.

Obviously, that changed. Just another thing to check that off the redshirt-sophomore's 'To Do List'.

Clemson had absolutely no answer to countering, let alone stopping Virginia Tech's newly established running attack. Clemson's James Davis, the ACC's leading rusher, was utterly silent in his Blacksburg debut, carrying the ball just 12 times for a mere 30 yards. To his credit, he did give the Tigers their only points of the ball game, but his outing paled in comparison to his 216-yard, two touchdown performance the week before against No. 13 Georgia Tech in the 'A'.

So, how did Virginia Tech pull out this win, of all games? Seriously, was there anyone in the entire country who thought the Hokies were going to hold the Tigers to just seven points? On top of that, did anyone fathom the Hokies winning by 17?

In a word, no.

By no means whatsoever did anyone on the college football landscape see this result coming, especially after witnessing the Tigers manhandle GT, just three weeks after the Yellow Jackets manhandled the Hokies. That isn't to say that it's fair to judge teams based on their performances against similar opponents, but there's no denying the obvious truth, we all use this manner as a way of measuring our team's respective talents.

The bottom line comes as that this win serves as a huge boost to the program, as the Hokies' toughest stretch of their schedule is set to approach in the upcoming weeks.

(Click to Enlarge)

Oh yeah. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Mager, Planet Blacksburg)