Clemson Tigers QB Won't Let LSU Loss 'Linger' Into Rest of Season

For Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik, it’s usual territory as the team’s starter.

Every season that Klubnik has been the starter, the team has seen an opening weekend loss to the season. That doesn’t stop the team from being able to make an impact down the stretch of the season, however.

Following the team’s loss to the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, Klubnik spoke to the media about what comes next for Clemson. Under the leadership of head coach Dabo Swinney, the idea of the long season was stressed in the locker room following the game.

“What his message was was ‘Whether we end up winning or losing the game, we’ve got a great team and we believe that, but we’ve got a lot that we need to get better at,’” Klubnik said. “We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make, didn’t make the throws we needed to make, weren’t aggressive enough, and time ran out.”

The team had opportunities to get back into the game, getting to the LSU 15-yard-line, but were unable to convert on fourth down to end the Tigers’ chances of a home win. On that play, Klubnik was rushed out of the pocket, which happened countless times on Saturday night, and had to throw the ball away.

Klubnik is known for being a tough critic of himself, and it’s about what comes next that’s most important moving forward.

“I don’t feel like I played as good as I can,” he said. “I don’t think I played the way I expected myself to, and I hold myself to a high standard. So, go watch a film and go get better. We’ve got a long season ahead and we can’t let it linger into the rest of the season.”

While a loss on this is taxing, it’s all about looking into next week and fixing the issues of yesterday.

“It’s Week 1 and it’s a long season ahead,” Klubnik said. “Whether or not we go down and score right there or go for two and get it or win in overtime, we’ve got a lot to fix tomorrow, and that’s what we took away from today’s game.”

Last year, the team had an opportunity to make a statement in the first week against the Georgia Bulldogs, but were dominated in a 34-3 blowout. Despite that, the Tigers still made the College Football Playoff and won their conference, which Klubnik will use as motivation moving forward.

“Last year we did a really good job of that,” he said. “I wish we could’ve started out with a win but just look at what you’ve got to get better at and be a hard critic. You’ve got to be a hard critic for yourself and just lead them. You’ve got to show up on Monday ready to roll and that’s what it comes down to.”

All remains on the table for Clemson. The team has yet to play an ACC game this season, which will be the only way to earn an automatic qualifier into the 12-team playoff. The Tigers made the postseason with three losses, and the team will now look to Troy next week to figure out the issues that occurred against LSU.

“We can really bounce back like we did last year,” Klubnik said. “Let’s go bounce back and go back to the playoffs. That’s where our mentality is. We’ll bounce back and put our best foot forward and learn from it and go get better next week.”