Tension tamer
Klubnik’s performance brightens Clemson’s future, raises questions over Clemson’s past
When Clemson’s offense hit the skids during the last month of the season, there was a notion that the problems were not limited to poor quarterback play.
When you see receivers dropping passes and befuddling play-calling decisions to go along with misplaced passes, it’s not a bad conclusion to come to. And it’s a conclusion that still holds merit.
However, if you were going to draw up a demonstration to disprove said conclusion, it would look a whole heck of a lot like the ACC Championship game did on Saturday night.
Veteran quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was given the start. The first play was scripted to help get him into rhythm — a simple 4-yard comeback route to Joseph Ngata — and the throw bounced at Ngata’s feet. The man who looked so improved and confident through the season’s first seven games had slumped back into his struggling form from 2021. Uiagalelei would take the first six snaps of the game, complete just two of his five passes and see two drives end without a first down.
The plan going into the night was to give freshman Cade Klubnik the third drive. The highly touted Texan had come off the bench to help lead Clemson back from a big deficit against Syracuse in the eighth game of the season, but when called upon to try to do the same against Notre Dame, he threw an interception to all but seal the defeat. Klubnik is Clemson’s heir apparent, but up to that point, there had been more public signs he would need another full offseason to grow into the role than signs he was the answer to the offense’s woes.
The key phrase being “up to that point” because what followed was a near masterclass by Klubnik, as he took the Tigers on back-to-back-to-back touchdown drives. Uiagalelei’s second-half performance the week prior did not present Klubnik with a high bar to clear, but he scraped his head on the ceiling all the same.
At his primary vocation, Klubnik completed his first 10 passes, including one gorgeous deep throw to little-known freshman receiver Cole Turner for Clemson’s longest completed pass of the season, and the streak only ended with a drop. He also ran for a touchdown and caught a 19-yard pass from Phil Mafah. The first time he even faced a third down was on his fourth drive, as the Tigers were hoping to add points before the half, and he surveyed the field before calmly picking up a first down with his legs, leading to a field goal to stretch Clemson’s halftime lead to 24–10 en route to a 39–10 victory and seventh ACC championship in the last eight years.
Klubnik’s final stat line read 20-of-24 passing for 279 yards and one touchdown, plus a rushing touchdown as part of 30 yards on the ground and the 19 yards catching. His on-time throws helped elevate the play of wide receivers who had looked pedestrian throughout the season, and he facilitated the first 100-yard receiver for the Tigers on the season in Turner, who caught three balls for 101 yards. Despite Nate Wiggins’ heroics with a key pass break up, a blocked field goal and a second-half interception returned for a touchdown to all-but-seal the victory, Klubnik was an easy choice for MVP of the game.
It was the type of performance to simultaneously make Clemson fans excited for the future and make them angry about the past.
On the latter, the natural reaction was to wonder if Klubnik could’ve helped the Tigers overcome the second-half deficit against South Carolina a week ago. Whether or not the Tigers could’ve jumped Ohio State for the №4 seed in the College Football Playoff (or whether that would’ve been good for the Tigers who would’ve been heavy underdogs against Georgia) is a separate issue, but the ending of the rivalry winning streak and the validation it gives Shane Beamer’s program moving forward definitely makes the non-decision to give Klubnik a shot maddening. Even just picking more spots for Klubnik to play throughout the season to make him a more experienced and viable option for that second half is something the coaching staff will regret in hindsight.
But the excitement about the program moving forward should outweigh any frustrations. Because after the November swoon, there were real concerns that the best days of the Dabo Swinney era could be behind the Tigers, especially if the issues surrounding the offense were as systemic as looked against Notre Dame and South Carolina. Seeing Klubnik be able to elevate the receivers around him and seeing a more creative gameplan utilized reduces those concerns.
The future is not guaranteed. The defense will need a severe retooling given the exits this offseason, and that’s an area where the transfer portal may need to explored. But now exists the possibility the offense can hit the ground running and perhaps be able to carry the defense as needed.
Perhaps that’s too hopeful on Klubnik after only one start, but hope has been hard to come by for the Clemson offense of late.
The past has passed. The trajectory of the future looks a lot better.
—
Robbie Tinsley is an award-winning columnist from his time as the sports editor of The Journal in Seneca, S.C. He now works on a freelance basis from his home in Massachusetts. He can be reached either via Twitter @RTinMan13 or email at robtinsley13@gmail.com.
—
This column also appears in the Wednesday edition of The (Seneca) Journal on December 7th.
