Adam Randall keeping faith that he will emerge in Clemson offense: "I know it's coming"

Adam Randall posted the longest catch of his career at Miami (34 yards) but finished that the lone catch in 14 snaps.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Fri Oct 27 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - Sophomore Adam Randall was supposed to be one of the players who could develop into a future NFL star and show Clemson’s presence in the national wide receiver conversation. He and the Tigers are still waiting on that development.

Randall was limited all last season after suffering a torn ACL in the spring. While he says he feels “100 percent” now, the numbers are not exactly reflecting that. He is eighth on the team in receptions and sixth in receiving yards. While there are eight different players with at least one receiving touchdown this season, Randall is not one of them. Nonetheless, he is not letting this disappointing start to his collegiate career bring him down.

“This season for me hasn’t gone statistically the way that (it was) projected that I was going to go,” Randall said. “But, at the end of the day, just going out there and being able to play for my team and doing anything that I can Saturday felt great, just being able to catch the ball and run a little bit, felt like I was back in high school.”

A more concerning aspect for Tiger fans is that the entire offense still has not gotten their footing this season. While true freshman receiver Tyler Brown has currently been a bright spot, other players seem to keep having setbacks with injuries or fumbles or just a lack of execution. For Randall, he feels he has had a good last few weeks of practice, and it is only a matter of time before he has his breakout game.

“I’ve been having a couple great weeks of practices and just being consistent out there,” Randall said. “I know it’s coming. It’s just when the opportunities come to me, just make the most of them.”

Offensive difficulties sometimes come up from getting a new quarterback. While you would hope these problems would be solved by this point in the season, it does not appear that is the case. Sophomore quarterback Cade Klubnik has been having a bit of a rough season. He may be second in the ACC in pass attempts and completions, but he is only No. 6 in touchdowns responsible for. But the bigger problem, as Randall describes, is that Klubnik and his receivers are not always on the same page, and the lineup can change at any given point.

“I feel like me and (Klubnik) have just been off a little bit on a couple of throws,” Randall said. “Also, it’s hard to stay on the field when you got NFL talent all around you in the room because you have a whole bunch of guys that are hungry to play, and if you’re not producing, you’re going to put the guys on the field that want to produce.”

Turnovers have been the biggest issue this season. In addition to Klubnik’s three interceptions, the Tigers also have an FBS-leading 10 fumbles lost. Randall feels they took a step in the right direction as an offense, but holding onto the ball and winning the turnover margin will be crucial for the rest of the season.

“I feel like we’re going to get there, and I feel like we got there Saturday. We still took a step, we just got to continue to hold the ball and not turn it over and just practice that,” Randall said. “If we can win the margin in these last five games, we’ll go 5-0. I promise you that.”