Clemson offense never flinched as Klubnik's heroics led the way to victory

Despite all odds against the Tigers and the season’s goodwill on the line, Klubnik felt at peace.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Sunday, November 17 2024

PITTSBURGH - Cade Klubnik knows it hasn’t been his best November.

His honest assessment of how he’s played has been on display, going far enough to say his outing against Virginia Tech was his worst of the year.

After a first half where Klubnik threw multiple strikes to Antonio Williams, it appeared he was returning to form.

One quarter later, it looked like it was back to the drawing board.

Pittsburgh then aimed down the barrel at Clemson, taking a 20-17 lead with 1:30 left to play with no timeouts.

Despite all odds against the Tigers and the season’s goodwill on the line, Klubnik felt at peace.

That feeling of calm quickly turned to jubilation as Klubnik strode across the field for a 50-yard rushing touchdown, restoring Clemson’s lead and eventually turning into the Tigers’ best moment of the season.

To go from feeling he could do so much more, to achieving all he could against the Panthers, Klubnik knew a moment like that was everything to him.

“Yeah, it was big,” Klubnik said. “Just like you said, I didn't feel like I played the best game last week and just worked my tail off. I just pushed these guys, and we had a great game plan. We just came out and dominated the first half. Just got to find ways to go dominate the second half. I knew that I can have a bounce-back game. I think that's one of the things I'm gifted with. Just being able to bounce back and whether it's bad play or a bad drive or whatever it is or a bad game, just being able to bounce back and go be great in the next one is huge.”

The junior signal-caller hasn’t had a drive like that since his days playing Texas high school football, one that still lives strong in his memory.

Given all that the Clemson offense had to overcome with injuries, it is safe to say this one will be tough to forget as well.

Heading into Saturday's matchup, he was well aware that they were short-handed. With Clemson’s playoff destiny still uncertain, Klubnik led a player meeting asking that they fight for those unable to make the trip.

“I'm just so proud of them,” Klubnik said. “We had an offense meeting last night, just player-led and we don't have one of our biggest leaders on the team here this week, Tristan Lee and Marcus Tate. And I'm like, guys, if y'all have nothing to play for, go play for them today. And just the strain that those dudes played with. I mean, Blake hasn't played left tackle since high school. Walker hasn't played right tackle since; I think he said like three or four years. And just their preparation for the game, it just showed their strain and their want to that whatever happens, I'm ready to go coach. I'm just so proud of those guys. We didn't have a great second half, but we battled. We just battled. There was never a moment that we flinched. We knew we were going to win it until the end.”

As Klubnik strolled into the end zone for his third total score, maybe it was already a sure thing they would find a way to win.

In their eyes, they never flinched and released their emotion as their quarterback saved the game and kept one of the season's top goals alive.