Clemson Football: Five things we learned about the Tigers vs Charleston Southern

Sep 9, 2023; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) takes a snap during the first quarter of the game with Charleston Southern at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 9, 2023; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) takes a snap during the first quarter of the game with Charleston Southern at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Clemson Football won big Saturday against FCS program Charleston Southern, as you would expect from most FBS programs. As discussed before the game, success would involve more than just a victory.

Here are five things we learned about the Tigers this weekend.

Cade Klubnik makes poor decisions, but the offensive line isn’t helping the situation

If you were to just watch the second half of this game, you might be wondering why so many fans are still very concerned about the Tigers this season. The second half was nearly mistake-free.

The first half was a different story. The primary culprit was Cade Klubnik. The first mistake of the game was on a 4th down attempt when center Will Putnam snapped the ball to Klubnik’s left.

It wasn’t a good snap, and Putnam has to take his share of the blame, but it wasn’t so awful that Klubnik shouldn’t have been able to handle it. The official statisticians agree with that assessment. It was listed officially as a fumble for Klubnik.

The second blunder was an attempted throw-away by Klubnik that didn’t get out of bounds. It was picked off by the defense and returned for a touchdown. The third was an intentional grounding call that didn’t cost the Tigers any field position – the ball was placed at the same location it would have been if Klubnik had simply taken the sack – but it was poor judgment to again put the ball into danger.

Klubnik needs to make better decisions, but a share of the blame needs to be placed on the other main responsible party: the offensive line.

As stated, Putnam’s bad snap contributed to the lost fumble. On the other two plays, the line allowed Charleston Southern to put a lot of pressure on Klubnik. The line, in my opinion, hasn’t played badly in the big picture, but there are still occasional breakdowns.

So while Klubnik needs to make better decisions, he isn’t often making blunders unless there is pressure in his face or some other mishap from his offensive line. Food for thought.