Klubnik says there are definitely plays he wants back from first start

Cade Klubnik attempted 54 passes in his first career start, a 31-14 loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Jan 01 12:47:51 GMT-04:00 2023

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – Cade Klubnik did a lot of good things in his first collegiate start, but there were also the usual mistakes made by a freshman and some plays that he wants back.

Klubnik finished the night 30-of-54 for 320 yards with two interceptions. He also carried it 21 times for 51 yards and was sacked four times.

Klubnik told the media postgame that he knows there are things he can do better, but he also wanted to praise his teammates.

“Just super proud of these guys right here. We gave it all we had until the very last play,” Klubnik said. “There's a lot of plays that I want back, but just super proud of how everybody competed. Just thankful for these seniors. Man, there's so many guys that they all just don't get to see every single day that just have such an impact on me, from everybody, Coach Swinney, Hunter Johnson, Ship (Will Shipley), KJ (Henry).

"There's so many times that I need help and they're there for me, and just so thankful for these guys. Wish we could have sent off these seniors with a win, but I think we gave it all we had until the very last play.”

At one point in the game Clemson had driven as deep as the Tennessee 32-yard line nine times but had just six points to show for it. There was a fake field goal that was stopped short of the line to gain, three missed field goals by BT Potter, and an erratic and head-scratching possession at the end of the first half that saw Klubnik taken down for a two-yard gain as time ran out in the first half.

“I mean, the name of the game points, and you get points by scoring touchdowns,” Klubnik said. “We needed to score touchdowns, and we weren't doing that. Part of that was on me. I took a sack on third down. There was just a lot of missed opportunities. Tennessee did a great job on disguising their blitzes and their coverages, and there was a lot of opportunities we had, especially in the red zone. But we needed to finish. That's what we needed to do. We were driving on them every single drive. Like we just were. For some reason when we got inside the red zone, we just couldn't finish it.”

Klubnik was asked if the game plan was for him to run it 20-plus times.

“I think it just happened during the game,” he said. “I think there was just plays to be had, and I don't think that was really the game plan coming into it, but ended up running some more inside zone, some more zone read, and just kind of happened.”