Swinney knows Tigers have to fix turnover issues, but he saw young players respond

Cade Klubnik showed his youth multiple times in the first half of the season opener win, but Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says he will blossom before our eyes this season.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Sep 10 07:38:19 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - Monday’s performance at Duke was still a prime topic in the wake of Saturday’s first win of the season for the No. 21/25 Tigers.

The season opener against Duke got away from Clemson to the tune of a 28-7 defeat, despite their statistical performance of over 200 yards passing and over 200 yards rushing. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Saturday postgame that 98% of the time when a team tops 200 yards passing and rushing, they win the game, per research dug up this week, but his team just found a way to be in the wrong two percent.

“I know nobody wants to hear it, but we did a lot of good things in that game Monday night, a lot of really good things,” Swinney said. “It’s a dadgum shame we lost the game, but we freaking did some things that you got to do to win football games.”

The first quarter against Charleston Southern brought about fears that history may be repeating itself as the Tigers had two turnovers that ultimately resulted in Buccaneer touchdowns. Quarterback Cade Klubnik made some other mistakes besides the turnovers, including an intentional grounding penalty deep in Tiger territory.

“Obviously, not making the snap on the fourth-and-one, going for it right there, and then the bad, bad – that’s about as bad a play as you can get on the pick-six. It doesn’t get any worse than that,” Swinney said. “And then, sometimes you have to take a sack. You know, you don’t ever want a sack, but sometimes you have to take a sack, and I know he’s trying to throw it away, backed up, but we’re really fortunate that wasn't a disaster (on the intentional grounding).”

What stood out, however, was Klubnik’s response to his mistakes. Unlike the Duke game, where the entire offense could not get on the same page, this time, the response was to put up 59 points following that pick-six. Thus, he displayed an ability that is essential for any quarterback: the ability to handle adversity.

“He can make all the throws, he made some nice runs and, but the biggest thing is, just being able to respond,” Swinney said regarding Klubnik. “You saw this heart. You saw his moxy and, you know, again, just, a kid that I think is going to blossom before our eyes, but we’ll have some ups and downs as we go.”

Klubnik was not the only player who stepped forward from the Duke game. In the season opener, junior wide receiver Beaux Collins had a total of 50 receiving yards. Against Charleston Southern, he had a 69-yard touchdown and 137 receiving yards total. While he celebrated a little early on the touchdown, he still had quite a successful day.

“Beaux Collins, you know, he’s had back-to-back really, really good games for us,” Swinney said. “I was pretty disappointed with him, he was really lucky because he thought he was by himself on that. That’ll be a great coaching lesson on Monday.”

It was also announced shortly before the game that redshirt freshman receiver Cole Turner, who had two receptions for 21 yards against the Blue Devils, would not be able to play; he is dealing with a lower body issue and is considered day-to-day. But, with the absence of Turner, that meant that redshirt sophomore Troy Stellato got the chance to prove himself finally. He did so and was second on the team in this game in yards after the catch with 41 yards.

“He’s had every reason to give up,” Swinney said of Stellato. “He’s every reason to just completely be a sour-attitude kid because he’s had a lot go against him, and he hasn’t done that. He’s just kind of continued to show up and hang in there.”

There is still one glaring problem that emerged in both games: turnovers, something Swinney is adamant about that needs to improve for the Tigers to succeed in the rest of the season.

“We lost the turnover margin again, and that’s something we’ve got to grow out of if we’re going to have the type of season we want to have,” Swinney said. “It cost us last season for sure. We had a little more room for error today to overcome it, but again, it’s going to get tougher as we go. So, we’ve got to be better with the ball.”

Clemson will have the chance to play a full sixty minutes without a turnover when it faces Florida Atlantic in their second home game of the season this coming Saturday (8 p.m./ACC Network). The Owls are 1-1; they won their season opener against Monmouth 42-20 but lost their second game against Ohio, 17-10.