Klubnik on effort against No. 4 FSU: "I hope everybody saw what this team is capable of"

Cade Klubnik owned some issues for Clemson's offense in critical spots, but he still believes his group showed positive signs.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Sep 24 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - It was an incredibly painful loss for Clemson on Saturday to No. 4 Florida State.

Freshest in sophomore starting quarterback Cade Klubnik’s mind postgame was his final two throws.

On third and one in overtime, Klubnik chose to pass the ball instead of handing it off to junior running back Will Shipley, and the pass was completed to sophomore wide receiver Adam Randall – but he was tackled immediately for no gain The following fourth and one pass was then incomplete, ending the game.

“Should’ve handed the ball off. I mean, that’s not the coaches. That’s my fault,” Klubnik said. “I had an option, three-receiver side, you have the option to throw the screen, and you have an option to run it. And then there’s only two guys over our three guys. Normally, my base rule is it’s three over two. If we catch it and two guys block two guys, we should probably at least get the first down.”

That was just one in several difficult plays past halftime – like the Klubnik fumble returned for a Seminole touchdown to tie the game late in the third quarter that swung momentum to the visitors.

“I honestly never really saw him. My eyes were to the left, working the field (on) my left side,” Klubnik said. “So, just a little bit of a protection thing, and they ran a great blitz and obviously got the scoop and score.”

It was not all gloom and doom, however. The Tigers had yet another successful day in the running game. Shipley had 67 yards and a touchdown, while also having 38 receiving yards on his four receptions, including a touchdown. Fellow junior running back Phil Mafah was the leading rusher of this game with 69 yards, including a 46-yard run in the third quarter.

“(Shipley) was running his butt off, Phil was running his butt off,” Klubnik said. “I mean, just look at the game, and you’re like, it’s really one play, and I think that’s kind of been the story of the year so far is one play. It’s really what this game comes down to.”

In the receiving corps, true freshman Tyler Brown had another good day. He finished the game with five receptions for 84 yards, the most out of any Tiger. Especially after losing redshirt freshman Cole Turner for the season and Antonio Williams for the week (ankle), Brown’s ability to step up has been a gift for the offense.

“He made a lot of big plays for us, crucial plays, and he’s only a freshman,” Mafah said. “So, just excited to see what he does in the future, and we’ll definitely need him.”

Defensively, the Tigers had several solid plays. In the game, they have a total of five tackles for loss, three of those coming in the first half. Further, they finished with two sacks on the day. Junior linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. got his first sack of the season at a crucial point in the game. In the last play of the first quarter, he sacked sixth-year quarterback Jordan Travis for a seven-yard loss to force the Seminoles to punt the ball away. This ultimately helped to set up a one-yard rushing touchdown by Klubnik.

“It felt really good to be able to make that play for my guys, help us get off the field right there,” Trotter said. “Jordan's a great quarterback, very elusive, and I feel like (defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin) actually made a really good play call and it worked out.”

Klubnik said that the team cannot let this loss define the rest of the season. The Tigers will play Syracuse next Saturday, September 30 (Noon / ABC), and need to be mentally in that game and not stuck in the past.

“You can’t let this loss lead to others. So, can’t let it linger and just fricking bounce back, and I hope everybody saw what this team is capable of. It’s one play and it’s a different ball game,” Klubnik said. “So, we played really good against the No. 3 or 4 team in the country. So, I hope we kind of saw what we’re worth, and at the end of the day, we just have to finish.”

For Mafah, he also stressed the importance of confidence. While there were undoubtedly missed plays throughout the game, it was probably the best the offense has looked all season.

“I’m very confident in this team,” Mafah said. “Just seen the work that we put out there, and they just made one more great play than us. But, I’m very confident in this team and will ride with this team forever.”