Clemson ’s defense showed out on Saturday night in Memorial Stadium, but it wasn’t enough in a 20-16 defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-2 ACC). The loss likely drops the Tigers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) out of an ACC Championship spot.

Despite the loss, Tiger fans should be encouraged by the team’s defense. The unit turned in its best performance of the season, holding a potent Hokies offense to just 70 yards rushing and 234 total yards.

“They were averaging 37 points (per game) coming in,” Dabo Swinney said postgame. “We held them to 20. They were averaging 148 yards rushing; we held them to 1.9 yards per carry. They’re 11th in passing in the country; we held them to 164 yards. They were averaging 440 yards; we held them to 234. I thought we did enough on defense and special teams to win the game.”

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who coached under now-Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin at Penn State, dialed up a quality game plan.…