Players, Coach Proud of Klubnik’s Performance

Were impressed by the way the freshman battled in Orange Bowl

USA Today Network

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Cade Klubnik became the first quarterback in Clemson history to make his first career start in a bowl game. He then went on to do other firsts for a Clemson quarterback in a bowl game.

Though the Tigers fell to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, the freshman quarterback did all he could do.

“Cade is one of the most competitive guys I know. I feel like he handled the pressure well. This was his first career start. So, he had a lot of pressure on him,” Clemson running back Phil Mafah said after the game.

It appeared, for the most part, Klubnik handled the pressure well. Despite being harassed by the Volunteers all night, he completed 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards.

Tennessee sacked him four times in the game and had several more pressures.

“I thought Tennessee did a great job sending blitzes at us and put pressure on him. But he stayed poised,” Mafah said. “Even until the end, he kept driving our team. I respect him.”

Klubnik did throw a couple of interceptions, but they came later in the night as the Tigers desperately tried to get back into the game. He also messed up at the end of the first half, with the Tigers driving and in position to score, by scrambling in the middle of the field with no timeouts and allowing the clock to run out.

“He just wasn’t thinking about that situation and understanding we did not have a timeout left,” Clemson offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. “We are in field goal range already. Just being able to process that, and again, with a lot of young quarterbacks, things like that happen. I hate that it happened tonight, but he will learn from it.

“You just can’t scramble in those situations. We had little time on the clock, and we had no timeouts. Obviously, that is a situation where you have to throw it to the end zone or throw it away.”

Klubnik ended the night setting an Orange Bowl record with 74 plays, the most by a Tiger since Deshaun Watson ran 77 plays in the 2017 National Championship Game.

Klubnik also set an Orange Bowl record with 54 passing attempts. Besides throwing for 320 yards, he also ran for 51 yards on 20 carries and scored the Tigers’ lone touchdown – a four-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“I think he handled everything professionally,” Clemson receiver Joseph Ngata said about his quarterback’s performance. “He did all he could do. Obviously, he is a freshman, so you have to cut him some slack a little bit.

“But I thought he battled. He ran really well. He passed really well, and he battled throughout the whole game. There are some things that he obviously can do better, but that goes for everybody. I am really proud of him tonight.”

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