Being the starting quarterback at a Power 5 school is an incredibly intense and stressful role. Being the starting quarterback for a former college football powerhouse in a steep regression can be borderline untenable. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik is getting a glimpse at that firsthand.
Following their loss to N.C. State on Saturday, Clemson has now lost games in back-to-back weeks and dropped four games in a season, both for the first time since 2011. The Tigers also ended a streak of double-digit wins that dates back to 2011, as well. Klubnik threw two interceptions in the loss, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The sophomore quarterback was not made available to the media after the game. He addressed his absence in a press conference on Monday.
"First of all, just want to say appreciate y'all understanding, you know, not doing media post-game. Just wanted to be there for my teammates, and, you know, knew I was gonna end up coming in today. So appreciate y'all understanding that. And but, yeah, I mean, obviously very excited for the [Notre Dame] game and getting to be in Death Valley again, and that's gonna be awesome. And, you know, obviously, a great opponent coming in, and it's gonna be a really fun game."
It hasn't just been Klubnik who's struggled offensively for Clemson, but the blame certainly seems to always land at the quarterback's feet. Especially when that quarterback came in as the No. 1 player at his position. But Klubnik isn't ready to throw the towel in yet. The sophomore expressed his pride in his teammates for not giving up, even when they entered the fourth quarter trailing by 17. The Tigers had a chance at the end to tie the game but came up short.
"I'm really proud of the way we finished, you know, " said Klubnik. "Wish that we would have kind of had a higher intensity in the first half. And, you know, we would like to not be 17 down, for our intensity to really get hot as an offense. So, really would have liked that. [I] kind of spoke on that. But, you know, we never quit 'til the very last play, and really proud of that. There are not many teams that would fight till the end, like we did. And, you know, I think that there's a lot of teams that would have kind of looked up the scoreboard going the fourth quarter, down what we were, and would've just kind of gave up and, and lost hope. But we never did that. And really proud of those guys."
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