Tyler Van Dyke vs Cade Klubnik: 3 Questions For Victory
Article photo of Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik; credit to Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports.
There’s been quite a bit of scrutiny for Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke lately. Some of it has certainly been warranted. After Miami played the Clemson Tigers, much more will have been learned about whether Van Dyke could bounce back after throwing 5 interceptions during the past two contests.
It’s ironic that he’s going against a counterpart that’s a sophomore and in his first full season as the starting signal caller for the Tigers. Highly acclaimed coming out of high school, Cade Klubnik has started to hit his stride for Clemson. Van Dyke was in a similar situation towards the end of the 2021 season.
Before going into the the three primary questions, here are the 2023 passing statistics for each of Van Dyke and Klubnik:
Van Dyke: 129/183, 70.5%, 1,721 yards, 9.4 per attempt, 16 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions
Klubnik: 137/210, 65.2%, 1,370 yards, 6.5 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions
Will Klubnik be able to outduel Van Dyke under the lights and a white out inside of Hard Rock Stadium?
1) Right off the bat, which signal caller takes care of the football better?
Take care of the football and come out victorious. That’s been a theme for decades. To that point, Van Dyke looked flustered versus Georgia Tech, yet had some brilliant throws versus North Carolina. He’s been all over the map of late.
Klubnik, meanwhile, has thrown only 2 interceptions this season and none during Clemson’s last four games. He’s a young player, but Klubnik has shown maturity beyond his years. That does not mean he will not succumb to Miami’s pass rush – which has created 17 sacks – and throw a few passes up for grabs.
2) Which quarterback connects on the money ball?
There will undoubtedly be a few moments during the game where Van Dyke and Klubnik absolutely must throw into tight windows. Perhaps a red zone play and it was third down. Could be a deep ball against good coverage, but a play where a great throw changed the outcome.
The player that does successfully will likely be smiling and victorious after the contest concludes. On the other hand, if one of them was off on these contested throws, it would have led right back into question #1.
There’s simply never been a substitute for accuracy, and Saturday’s game will prove to have been no different.
3) Which quarterback makes the best decisions for his team?
Sometimes it’s actually not about the passes, but the play calls, checks at the line of scrimmage, and of course leadership, that helped quarterbacks lead their respective teams win football games.
Quarterback has always been about being selfless. Even if it was a pass play that’s been sent in from the offensive coordinator, if the defense showed a passive front, the check to a running play would have been a good option.
In short, throwing for 200 yards and winning has been and continues to be a better option than throwing for 350 yards and losing. For Van Dyke and Klubnik, each has been handing off to really talented running backs all season long.
The one that has leaned on his rushing attack at the right times, that’s also a quarterback that’s going to come out victorious.
