Sapp has confidence in Klubnik, Clemson's offense

A Sapp was back in the end zone in Death Valley this past weekend with Josh Sapp scoring his first TD on his first career catch.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Wed Sep 13 13:00:09 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - In a game where 117 players entered for the Tigers, there was bound to be at least one player who got their first career touchdown. That player was redshirt freshman tight end Josh Sapp.

If the name Sapp sounds familiar, it should. His father, Patrick Sapp, was a starting quarterback for Clemson between 1992 and 1994 before he moved to outside linebacker in 1995. Patrick Sapp was a second-round draft pick in the NFL and played for the San Diego Chargers and the Arizona Cardinals.

Touchdowns are something that Sapp had a lot of coming out of Greenville High School. In his senior year, he averaged 16.7 yards per reception and finished high school with 1,331 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Sapp was redshirted last year, so he only got the chance to play on five snaps. However, he was able to get in the game last family weekend when Clemson played Louisiana Tech, as well as getting a few snaps in Clemson’s 39-10 ACC Championship victory over No. 24 North Carolina. Now in his second season, he got his first catch, a 25-yard touchdown. Part of how he got that touchdown this year is from adjusting more to college life in general, balancing both football and school.

“Definitely, coming in my freshman year, there was a lot of stuff going on, just with learning offense, getting, like, managing my time with class and stuff,” Sapp said. “I really feel I got everything down … and everything’s going smoothly. Just take it day-by-day, learning offense, practicing it, and also, on the other hand, my school work, handling that stuff.”

One major storyline going into Clemson’s second week of the season was how starting quarterback Cade Klubnik would perform in his third college start. The first quarter was riddled with his mistakes, resulting in two touchdowns for Charleston Southern, including what Klubnik called probably the worst play he’s ever made as a QB, which resulted in a pick-six. But he was a completely different player in the second half, leading to 28 points for the Tigers. Players like Sapp are completely confident in Klubnik’s ability despite the fluctuating performance.

“He’s our QB man, he’s a great leader for us,” Sapp said. “So, I mean, he’s just good. We have his back; I know he has our back. So, we just have to keep pushing him. He pushes us. So, just working together, man. We work together well, just keep pushing each other, and continue to have each other’s backs.”

There is always a little bit of a question about how such a young player will lead his team. Klubnik will not even turn 20 until shortly after Clemson’s homecoming game against Wake Forest in the sixth week of the season. He has a lot on his shoulders, but Sapp describes Klubnik as a strong leader and someone who keeps the entire team going.

“He’s a good vocal leader,” Sapp said. “He leads by example for sure and always keeping us together, the offense, keeping us going, keeps the defense going too…Just (a) great all-around leader.”

After the season-opener against Duke, the offense’s production – but particularly their second-half performance – against Charleston Southern provides the entire team with a great deal of confidence going into the weekend facing Florida Atlantic.

“Definitely boosts our confidence for sure,” Sapp said. “Just us, seeing us click as an offense – just with making those passes, having those big runs, O-line blocking, Cade making those great reads. Definitely a confidence booster.”