Nowadays, a program could play a team that sees a former player on a different opponent. The Clemson Tigers will have that unique opportunity with a few of the opposing players this weekend. 

Clemson hosts Virginia Tech at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, and the new-look Hokies have plenty of pieces that the Tigers saw in their postseason game last season, the loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Pinstripe Bowl back in December 2025. 

One of those players who stood out in the loss was quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who was the backup for standout Drew Allar before going down with a season-ending injury. Now, the junior is the man under center for Virginia Tech, following former head coach James Franklin to Blacksburg for a new beginning. 

Swinney remembers the snowy December day that he first saw Grunkemeyer, who threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns in the bowl game win over the Tigers. He had plenty of positives to mention on Tuesday. 

“This quarterback, we’ve seen him. He’s a really good player, very savvy, very smart,” he said. “I think they do a great job schematically in creating opportunities; they’ve had a lot of explosives and big plays.”

However, despite playing him not even a year ago, Swinney says he’s a completely different player, and Virginia Tech and Penn State are two completely different teams, despite the same head coach and some of the core players the Hokies have. 

“We got some guys that saw him so far as just physically who he is, but he’s a better player,” Swinney said. ‘He’s a different guy. It’s a different time, so we just focus on what we see on tape this year and trying to get ready for it to defend it.”

The numbers don’t lie about Swinney’s point, either. 

Grunkemeyer is fifth in the entire country in passing yards, throwing for 1,984 yards and 15 total touchdowns to just two interceptions. A gunslinger who has plenty of playmakers who can be dangerous against Clemson, the Penn State transfer will look to have similar success to that of what happened in the Big Apple to finish the 2025 season. 

But Swinney won’t be watching the tape from that game, which features a lot of different personnel.

“I mean, just focus on what we see on tape. We got whatever, six games they’ve played,” he said. “So, that’s really what we’re looking at. It’s not about last year, you know.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the game to be broadcast on ESPN.