Cade Klubnik Calls Out Syracuse “Injury” as Former Player Throws Shade At Dabo Swinney’s Side

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After a loss to Syracuse, Clemson’s quarterback, Cade Klubnik, looked desperate for answers. The Tigers are 1-3 and 0-2 in the ACC. That seems unbelievable for a team that many predicted would win the conference and contend for the national championship. Make no mistake; the road to the CFP just became more difficult. An ACC title is still possible, but the coaches must find out where the team went wrong and how to get back on track.

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Clemson QB Cade Klubnik Discusses Aspects of Syracuse Loss

Before the season started, many expected Clemson would be able to outscore opponents behind a high-powered offense led by Klubnik and a stingy defense filled with preseason All-Americans.

However, none of that is happening. Today’s loss to Syracuse marked the fourth consecutive time the offense failed to score more than 27 points in a game. Meanwhile, the defense surrendered 34 points. Clemson wanted to play with pace today. Their quarterback discussed how he believes that the Orange derailed the attempt.

“Whoa. Talking about how Clemson played well in a tempo offense today, Clemson QB Cade Klubnik brings up – unprompted – that he felt like Syracuse seemed to have a guy getting injured after Clemson made a big play. “It’s up to them if they wanna be honest about that.”

In essence, Klubnik accused Syracuse of dishonest play. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. The statistics say that the offense, under Klubnik’s control, scored seven points in the final 34:11 of gameplay.

That includes an interception by Klubnik, a fumble by running back Adam Randall, two punts, and two turnovers on downs. Despite rolling up 503 yards of offense, the Tigers converted just 3 of 13 third downs.

Meanwhile, the defense allows 155 yards on the ground, and Syracuse quarterbacks Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins throw for 278 yards and three touchdown passes. Even Clemson alumni are perplexed with the result and offer harsh criticism, like former linebacker Xavier Thomas, now of the Arizona Cardinals.

“At this point, it’s not even an upset anymore.”

After last week’s loss against Georgia Tech, head coach Dabo Swinney discussed the unfair standards that his program faced. Now, what can Clemson do with three losses and potentially looking at needing to run the table to reach the conference championship game?

Currently, both sides of the ball look rather suspect. The offense can gain yards but struggles to score, and the defense struggles to stop the pass and run. Will Clemson turn things around, or is this loss a harbinger of the rest of the season?

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