Cade Klubnik is a harsh critic on his day, but he says Clemson has a special offense |
CLEMSON - On Saturday, the offensive product wasn’t perfect.
It was, however, enough for a sixth win in a row. The Clemson offense produced its fifth 40-point game of the season and its fifth 500-yard game in 2024. Looking at those numbers alone, it is easy to be impressed by the dramatic improvement of Garrett Riley’s system. Since the Georgia matchup, the Tigers have been the third-highest-scoring offense in the FBS and have put the nation on notice with weekly fireworks. Against Virginia, it wasn’t the opening act that the Tigers wanted. Clemson once again fell behind to a weaker ACC opponent, and Cade Klubnik’s shaky start, which included an interception, didn’t make it any easier. However, this offense rallied off 35 unanswered points. If you blinked, you likely missed the quick shift in attitude towards the unit in just a short few hours. Klubnik entered the media room after another offensive onslaught, and his demeanor told the story: he wanted more. The junior was pretty honest about his decision-making at times, telling the media some of his throws were flat-out “horrible.” “I think that personally, I'm pretty upset about a couple of my throws today just because some days you're not on it, and I'll look back at it and figure out why, and at the end of the day, it's mechanics, but I'm not worried about it at all,” Klubnik said. “I'm not, and I know the strength of my accuracy that I lean on, and I'm not afraid to trigger and make any throw. So sometimes you just don't have as good of a game as you do others, and that's okay.” The Clemson signal caller knows he has plenty of support around him, whether that’s the talent in the receiving room or his tailback-turned-workhorse Phil Mafah. He told the media on Tuesday that this group would not be satisfied if the final score didn’t begin with the Tigers scoring at least 40 points. Maybe they’ve set a pretty high bar, but even as shaky as the offense looked to start, the unit dug deep and found a way to pounce on the Virginia defense. In Klubnik’s eyes, that’s the beauty of this Clemson offense. “It is really special,” Klubnik said. “We've got guys all over that believe in me, and I believe in them, and that's what it is. And I didn't have my best game today regarding my accuracy. I feel like my decision-making other than the interception, was good, but we got guys around me that we're just a really tight group, and we've got playmakers. We put up 48 points and 500-something yards, and your quarterback didn't play the best game of the year but still got the job done, and it's really special. It's exciting for sure.” Heading into November, Clemson is riding excitement that hasn’t been seen since the turn of the decade. With five regular-season games left on the docket, this unit still believes there’s more to achieve. The Tiger offense wants this to be a November to remember so that December can be filled with the present that is a College Football Playoff berth.
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