Klubnik says Tiger offense will be similar to Tennessee's this season

Klubnik says Clemson's offense should go faster under Garrett Riley.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Mar 11 08:00:22 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Cade Klubnik got a close look at the Tennessee offense last December in the Orange Bowl, and he thinks Clemson could play with a similar tempo this season.

The Volunteers ranked second nationally last season at 7.28 yards per play, and Tennessee was second only to Oklahoma in seconds per play at 20.2 (Oklahoma was at 20.1 seconds per play). Clemson was 49th nationally at 24.9 seconds per play.

Klubnik said he thinks the Tigers can do many of the same things accomplished by Tennessee.

"You look at what Tennessee could do last year, and everybody talked about how fast they played," Klubnik said earlier this week. "I think that's going to be a lot similar to what we're going to be doing this year. Just the speed we can play at but also the efficiency. It's not just a bunch of guys running around trying to figure out what we're doing. Even in the first day of practice, after 10 minutes guys were running around and getting to the spot and snapping the ball 15 seconds later. I don't know the exact time.”

Klubnik loves what he sees so far.

"It's fun... you're running around, getting set, snapping the ball, and getting six yards then you're taking a shot,” Klubnik said. “Then six more, six more, then taking a shot. It's just fun; that's the best way to describe it. It's just a fun offense to play in."

Klubnik was a backup for the majority of last season but threw for 697 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions. He didn’t start against North Carolina in the ACC Championship but entered early in the contest and threw for 279 yards on 20-of-24 passing.

He was forced to run for his life against Tennessee in the bowl game and finished with 30 completions in 54 attempts for 320 yards and two interceptions. Klubnik said he knows there is room to improve this spring.

"Accuracy and continuing to rally guys and really push them to where they haven't pushed themselves before," Klubnik said of his improvement. "I feel like now I have that capability to really encourage guys to get going. We got some of the best athletes in the nation here, so just getting their minds right. Not saying that they don't, but we're not here to just have another year. We're here to win it all. That's the main goal here and if we don't do that then the accomplishment isn't made."

He is also doing his own drill work.

"Taking back my old drill work that I used to work in high school. I feel like that was one of my best attributes in high school, being able to move and stay calm under blitzes and under pressure,” he said. “Be able to make one or two movements and be able to deliver the ball downfield. I think that was my biggest weakness in the Orange Bowl was just not having a great pocket presence; I was escaping too early. I've been working that two or three times a week right now, getting back to my roots with that."

Klubnik said the loss to Tennessee is also a motivating factor.

"The fun is in the winning and you learn from losing. It sucks and I hate it,” he said. “With three older siblings, we are most competitive family ever. I hate losing no matter what it is. So I'm going to come back and it's going to be a good year."