Quick Observations: Tigers getting better behind Klubnik and Brown

Cade Klubnik looks for running room against the Orange.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Sep 30 18:20:31 GMT-04:00 2023

SYRACUSE, NY – Head coach Dabo Swinney walked out of the interview room following the Tigers’ 31-14 victory over Syracuse Saturday, and went behind the closed doors of the coaches’ offices. It didn’t take him long to celebrate, out loud, as the door closed.

Everybody, including the headman, felt a sense of relief.

Clemson avoided an 0-3 start in league play with the win, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was good enough for a team that is getting better.

Let’s start with quarterback Cade Klubnik, who is getting better every week. He still has a tendency to stare down receivers, but he’s also making the big play when he has to. The Tigers were 7-of-15 on third down, and several times, Klubnik was flushed from the pocket and bought time before making a throw for a first down. More than once, that was to freshman wide receiver Tyler Brown, who had a career-high nine receptions for 153 yards (Clemson changed the stats after the game to reflect an error made by the stat crew).

Klubnik explained after that when he scrambles, the routes break down, and he needs a receiver high, a receiver in the middle, and a receiver low, and he said Brown understands that and does a fantastic job of getting open. And Brown has a chance to be a special player. It will be interesting to see what happens when Antonio Williams returns from injury – they both deserve to play.

Speaking of the receivers – Swinney said during August that the coaches weren’t counting on Troy Stellato, who couldn’t stay healthy and on the field. Well, he’s healthy, and he’s on the field, and it looks like he’s taking snaps from Adam Randall. I remember one Randall target Saturday, but he had no catches and now has just seven through five games. Stellato has 14 receptions and looks to be gaining confidence every week.

The running game wasn’t able to find much room – the Orange were determined to stop the run, and the offensive line didn’t get a big push in the run game. The fumble by tight end Jake Briningstool was the lone turnover on the day by the Tigers, and it led to seven points for Syracuse.

Defensively, there was one drive where the Tigers forgot to cover and tackle, but other than that, they did a good job most of the day. The Orange entered the game 15th nationally in rushing offense at 213 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry. The Orange averaged just 2.9 yards per rush Saturday (34-100), and quarterback Garrett Shrader ran 15 times for 24 yards.

Shrader was evaluated for a concussion after Justin Mascoll lit him up in the first quarter but came back in to play. But it was obvious he was never comfortable after that hit and wasn’t much of a factor.

As for the kicking game, Jonathan Weitz was 1-for-2 on field goals, and we’ve heard that he’s just fine when the ball is in the middle of the field but struggles with the angles. He missed his angle kick and drilled the one from the middle.

The good news is that Clemson is getting better and should be favored next week against Wake Forest. After that is an open date and a trip to Miami. It only gets better from here.