What Clemson QB Cade Klubnik Said After Falling to No. 1 Georgia
On what he said to the team in the locker room after the loss:
“First thing I said, for the guys in that room, when they leave Clemson one day, the only thing I want them to remember me as somebody that never quit on them. I hope that they remember that right now.”
I hope they remember that last year, when we were sitting 4-4, I never quit on them, and I'll never quit on them now.
“I told them, when I show up on Monday, I’ll show up with more energy than I ever have in my entire life. I'll be showing up like we haven't even played a game yet. At the end of the day, it's one game, and we’ve got a long season ahead, and we're going to flush this and learn from it and go get better.”
On the offense struggling against the Bulldogs’ defense:
“I can't put my finger on it exactly. I thought we had a pretty good first half in terms of moving the football, and then it would be penalty, penalty, when we really can't have it -- third down conversions, moving the ball—just shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“They're a great team. I think we have a great offense, and we're gonna be able to do some really good things this year. Just continue to fine-tune the details.”
“I think throwing the football, we did some good stuff today, and running the football. Phil ran it really hard today and made some great cuts. Protection: I feel like I had a lot of time back there. Just got to take advantage of the opportunities when they come.”
On taking care of the football against Georgia’s elite defense and the outstanding interception by Georgia safety Malaki Starks:
“An unbelievable play. I saw TB [Tyler Brown] kind of have a yard on him and I let it out there. The guy did a great job of pushing Tyler to the sideline. One of the best plays I've seen since playing at Clemson. Tip the hat to that kid right there. I thought we did a great job, obviously, handling the football and taking care of it. Other than that, I don't think we even had a turnover all night, other than the fourth down stop, if you want to count that.”
On the miscommunication on the second quarter fourth-down play where a timeout was called:
“It's just my fault. Honestly, [I] didn't understand what he [Dabo Swinney] was thinking. We weren't on the same page. I didn't know he was going to take a delay of game. So I'm thinking let's not back ourselves up anymore. I saw the clock at one, and my instinct was to call time out. I won't do that again.”