The look of confidence
CLEMSON -- Cade Klubnik spent 20 minutes reflecting on the difference a year makes, and he barely made mention of two freshman receivers playing a role in the current good vibes from this offense.
No doubt Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore have created a sensation thus far.
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But there's also no doubt that a core of returning offensive players are primarily responsible for the progress shown over the last two weeks of camp.
Klubnik visited with the media early Tuesday afternoon, and he had the look of a guy who's much more comfortable and confident entering his second year as the starter.
A lot of that comes from the play of the people around him and in front of him.
As easy as it is to trash last year's offense for its failure to get out of its own way, the reality is it was Year 1 under a new offensive coordinator and there were a number of players who were just getting used to playing on the big stage.
And we haven't even gotten into the litany of injuries suffered on that side of the ball in 2023.
Everything is relative, of course. And with this offense relatively older and relatively healthy, there's hope that it can all come together with Klubnik leading the way.
"I think we've just had a really good mindset more than anything," said Klubnik, who played a significant role in the offense winning the day during Saturday's stadium scrimmage.
"First of all, we were a really young team last year. And it's a team that's just a lot smarter. And me personally, I have another year under my belt. Just a smarter football team, guys that have more experience kind of all over. When it comes to receivers, offensive line, quarterback, running back, just a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball now. ... Getting to come back in the same offense again is huge, not having to have your first fall camp in a new offense and kind of getting to run things you've already been running, that's been huge for us."
This time last year, it was easy for everyone (players included) to get caught up in the idea that Garrett Riley would work instant magic with the offense. That didn't happen, as Clemson regressed in the scoring column (29.8 points per game, from 32.9 in 2022) and made a habit of imploding at the worst possible times.
Klubnik of course was a big part of that as he was prone to fumbles, sketchy pocket awareness, and not throwing on time to receivers when they broke open.
As he compares his present self to back then, he sees a major difference.
"It's not even about throwing a 50-yard vertical route," he said. "It's just little things, making plays that I wouldn't have made last year. Just smarter plays. I've just learned how to manage the game better, just getting to play. I've kind of seen that, and I feel like the coaches have seen that through me.
"But I think that's just kind of all over: We're just doing things that we wouldn't have done last year, or we would've done last year and we're not doing now. Just a team that is more experienced offensively, more than anything."
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Much has been made of the infusion of new playmaking talent, and for good reason. Yet Saturday's scrimmage showed that the foundation for an offensive revival could be set by experienced players.
Entering last season, left tackle Tristan Leigh and guard Collin Sadler had combined for less than 100 career snaps. Leigh had 756 snaps last season while starting 11 games, and Sadler had 565 while starting five games.
The line lost center Will Putnam, but it got back guard Walker Parks (28 career starts and 2,107 snaps) after he missed all but two games last season. So far, so good for Parks as he goes through his first repeated physical contact in almost a year.
We could go on, but the point is this offensive line has felt and looked much better so far. That materialized early in Saturday's scrimmage when Phil Mafah had room for some big runs on a 70-yard touchdown drive.
Lo and behold, the success with the run helped set up some downfield connections between Klubnik and Adam Randall in the passing game. And spreading the ball around has allowed Klubnik to pull it down and make some big runs over the past week.
"It was a good day for the offense," Klubnik said. "I think we did a good job up front of executing, and Phil kind of started us off with some big runs right off the bat. Adam Randall had a great day making some big-time plays.
"I think the best part was just spreading the ball around. It wasn't like one or two guys were making 10 or 12 catches each; it was kind of spreading the ball around and being efficient with the football. Everybody just kind of did their job and we just kind of put drives together."
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When the topic of Wesco and Moore came up, Klubnik was complimentary of the two newcomers but said the strength of this position will be the entire group.
"There's nobody in that room with an ego or thinks they're better than anyone else," he said. "And I think that's kind of how the whole offense is: There's nobody that thinks they're above anybody else, which is huge. That's what you need to be efficient as an offense. To be able to do that and everybody just work together -- they're just trying to go and be the best that they can be, and I'm really proud of those guys and just the humble work they've been doing. Just really proud of them."
So yes, it's true that help is on the way in the form of high-level talent.
But some important help was already here, and if this keeps up the offense could be helping itself author a turnaround in 2024.
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