Clemson Football: Cade Klubnik bringing a veteran mindset to new offense

Following a full offseason as QB1 for Clemson, Cade Klubnik is ready to lead an explosive and efficient offense in 2023.

It's been tough sledding for the Clemson offense since Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne headed to Jacksonville and the NFL. The Tigers have consistently struggled to find any rhythm on offense, and, perhaps even more, any type of explosiveness. Enter Garrett Riley. Clemson's new offensive coordinator is fresh off of leading one of the nation's top offenses at TCU. Now he'll try to bring his explosive system to the ACC.

Leading the charge for Riley will be sophomore quarterback Cade Klubnik. With some experience in some pretty big games (ACC Championship and Orange Bowl), Klubnik isn't completely raw, but he does not have a ton of snaps under his belt. With that said, the 19-year-old quarterback has a fairly veteran mindset when it comes to his approach to the offense.

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"All the QBs in general, you know in scrimmages and stuff like that, we can kind of get antsy to take big shots and you know, you want to make the big plays, but it's just taking what they give you, taking the easy stuff and taking the hitch route, taking a little slant," said Klubnik following Clemson's practice on Monday. "Ultimately, that's what puts drives together. We're not looking for a touchdown every single play, we're just looking to get the next first down. So, yeah, see that and navigate down the field."

It's understandable for the Clemson quarterbacks to be pressing for big plays. In 2022, Clemson ranked 66th in plays over 20 yards and 75th in plays over 50 with just 5 last year. The Tigers had only one play all of last season that went for over 60 yards. In contrast, Riley's TCU offense ranked 4th in plays of 20+ yards and had 22 plays over 50 yards, including 13 of 60+.

"I remember one thing like my high school coaches told me is, you know, big shots are gonna happen," continued Klubnik. "Big shots are never forced, big plays are never forced, they just happen. And those are created by taking what they give you, by taking the short stuff, intermediate stuff, safeties start creeping down, corners start creeping down, boom, now you got opportunities to make plays, right? If you're first down and you're averaging four to six yards on first down, and then you're sitting, you know, second and four every single time, that's when shots are going to happen. So not taking shots on first down and then giving yourself a second-and-long with being able to, you know, give yourself opportunities to take shots on the second and shorts and on the third and shorts."

More Clemson Football News:

• Dabo Swinney comments on Clemson's freshman class prior to fall camp
• Conference Realignment: What Oregon and Washington's jump means for Clemson
• Garrett Riley named one of the "most interesting new coordinators" by ESPN

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