I looked back at my pregame prediction, and like my Sugar Bowl prediction, it was very accurate. I picked Michigan to win 24-21, and they won 23-20 — correct margin, off by one point; I picked Clemson to win 41-20, and they won 38-17 — correct margin, off by three points.

But the reasons why the Hokies lost by three touchdowns, and how it unfolded, weren’t what I expected at all.

They were, however, familiar.

Visions of Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins running away from feeble attempts at coverage never materialized. Fears of Andre Ellington gashing the Hokies defense never came about. The defense played a pretty good game, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

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