Clemson’s highly touted true freshman quarterback saw action, albeit brief, in Saturday’s 31-16 win over Louisville at Death Valley.
Cade Klubnik entered the game for starting signal-caller DJ Uiagalelei with under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Tigers up by 14 points. After the six-play possession with Klubnik at the helm ended in Will Shipley’s lost fumble, Uiagalelei came back in for what turned out to be Clemson’s final possession, which began and ended with Phil Mafah’s 39-yard touchdown run on the possession’s only play.
Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter met with the media Monday and was asked what the thought process was behind Klubnik subbing in for Uiagalelei and then the latter closing out the game.
“I think in that situation, number one, we wanted to get Cade some more experience,” Streeter said. “And number two, he brings an explosiveness with his feet that you saw on a couple of the plays there – at least one of the plays, he had a 13-yard carry. And so, that allowed us to even run some more clock off and try to hold the ball a little bit longer, too.”
Klubnik’s 13-yard run gave the Tigers one of the two first downs they picked up on the lone drive he played. Aside from that run, he handed the ball off to Mafah and Shipley twice apiece before Shipley’s fumble on his third carry of the possession resulted in a turnover.
Klubnik – who has completed 9 of his 20 passes for 85 yards, one touchdown and one interception across seven games this season, while rushing 13 times for 38 yards – did not attempt a pass against Louisville.
“We weren’t super confident in putting the ball in the air in that situation, up a couple scores, and just didn’t want to give them any confidence for their offense to get back out on the field,” Streeter said.
“So, that was two things – really getting him in the game, in a pressure situation too, get him some good experience, and then you always like to have a guy that can really, really get on that edge. He’s a fast kid that can make some hey with his feet. So, those were the main reasons.”
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