Cade Klubnik ‘blossoming before our eyes’ for Clemson vs. NC State

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik put on a show in week 2 against Appalachian Statewhich led the Tigers to a 66-20 victory. The junior picked up where he left off after the week off, helping Clemson to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter against NC State.

Head coach of the Tigers Dabo Swinney was a guest on ABC during Saturday’s game and reported on what he saw from Klubnik and the Clemson offense in the first quarter.

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“Explosive. Explosive and consistent,” Dabo Swinney said. “They just take what’s there. Our quarterback is blossoming right before our eyes.”

Cade Klubnik completed 7 of 8 passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter. That performance came after he completed 24 of 26 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns in Week 2 against Appalachian State. He also ran for two touchdowns against the Mountaineers.

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According to the ABC broadcast, Clemson is the first FBS team in the last 20 years to have a lead of at least 28 points after the first quarter in two consecutive games.

“This is two games in a row where we came out of the gate well in the first half and really played with a lot of precision,” said Dabo Swinney. “There’s still a long way to go. You can’t play by a scoreboard, you just have to play by a standard. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

In addition to Cade Klubnik and the offense, the defense also played well, managing a shutout and forcing two turnovers in the first quarter. Nevertheless, Dabo Swinney saw room for improvement.

“We’ve got to be a little better on first down. I think that’s the main thing,” Swinney said. “We caused a couple of turnovers. You know, the first drive, they pushed us back at the 10. We got the stop, but they turned the field over. The offense did a great job and scored. But the main thing is we’ve got to be a little better on first down, and then we’ve got to cover the wheel route. So that was a little bit of an issue.”

Clemson is working to prove its seriousness after a difficult start to the season.

The Tigers were beaten 34-3 by Georgia in the season opener, when they failed to get anything going on offense. Since then, the Tigers seem to have regained some confidence.

Clemson outplayed Appalachian State in Week 2 and, after a week off, did the same to an NC State team that entered the game 2-1.