Cade Klubnik believes Saturday's opener shows growth on and off the field

Cade Klubnik says there's a confident feeling in the Clemson offense despite the scoreline versus Georgia.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Wednesday, September 04 2024

CLEMSON - There are lessons to be learned from triumph. Saturday’s result taught something different for Clemson's Tigers.

Clemson’s offense struggled to hold its ground against Georgia’s defense, leading to a season opener that generated little progress.

Cade Klubnik certainly understands that. As he switched on the tape for Sunday, he saw room for growth, but believes there’s been personal progress within his game.

“I think I took steps from last year to this year just in managing the game,” Klubnik said. “And one of our coaches gave me a good tip for the season, and he kind of came and asked me how many games do you have to win this year? And I didn't know how to answer. He said you don't have to win any of them; all you have to do is manage them. So that's kind of been my goal, and that was my goal week one; going to my goal every week is just managing the game the best I can. I think there are things I need to improve at, but overall, I feel like I've made a big jump from last year. However, that doesn't matter if I don't do it again this week.”

He is undoubtedly well aware of the noise that comes with the responsibility of being the starting quarterback at Clemson.

Steps need to be taken for this offense to grow, and fair or not, all of that attention falls on Klubnik’s shoulders.

He sees those steps as easily correctable, pointing to Clemson’s self-inflicted wounds that prevented momentum from building for the Tiger offense. Several procedural penalties killed drives and there were routine throws that might have played for decent yardage.

Despite Saturday’s result, Klubnik doesn’t lack confidence that this group has the right game plan to be successful. He took it upon himself to shoulder responsibility for some of those plays and give Garrett Riley credit for his scheme.

“I liked the way we called the game,” Klubnik said. “I liked starting with the ball and wished the first three plays of the game. We just stopped ourselves. I thought my worst play was the first play of the game, and I just short-armed it. If you've ever played quarterback before, sometimes the short, easy dunks are just a little bit short-arm-ish. But I think that he did a great job calling the game, and I mean, you can't put it on Coach Riley when we're doing self-inflicted stuff, stuff that he can't control in the field like a guy being off the line or things like that. So, just kind of stuff that player-wise, some of our guys just got to fine-tune our details, but I've been loving Coach Riley. I thought we had a great game plan and just a couple of things we'll keep working on.”

Part of his growth has also been off the field, and he’s used 2023 as a template to shut out the noise.

“I feel better at it this year than I did last year just because I've done it before, and I mean it starts with just shutting off all social media after a win or loss,” Klubnik said. “They will praise you when you're doing great and hate you when you're doing bad. So just turning all that off is big, and just listening to the people in this building and listening to my coaches' opinions more than anybody is really what matters, and that's how I can be better and make my team better. And so listening to that and then honestly just talking to the team's leaders and focusing on that and not talking to anybody I don't need to be talking to and giving much attention to people that I don't need to be given attention to.”

As the results continue to dictate Clemson’s destiny, those voices will continue to grow.

Klubnik is taking his growth in stride and is ready to meet it with open arms.