Predicting the maximum and minimum number of wins for the Clemson Tigers in 2024 | 05/27/24

Clemson couldn’t have looked more different in the first two weeks of the season, especially on offense. This ultimately raises the question, which version of the Tigers is the real one?

Joel Klatt reflected on this during Wednesday’s episode of his show. The offensive outburst for Clemson in the 66-20 win over Appalachian State compared to their 34:3 defeat against Georgia in the opening game even made him think again about what he saw, regardless of the perceived difference in competition between the two opponents.

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“Clemson fans have to be wondering, ‘Um, what?'” Klatt laughed. “To be honest, I’m scrolling around, watching games on the plane, getting updates on my phone on Saturday. In my mind, I’m thinking, this can’t be right. There’s a glitch, right? You’re telling me that the team that didn’t do anything offensively against Georgia just outshines App State? Like, outshines App State.”

“Three points and 188 total yards against Georgia. That’s it,” Klatt said. “Now you might say, ‘Well, Joel, Georgia is elite.’ Good. Good. App State got votes. That means they’re one of the, what, top 30, 31, 32, 33 teams in the country? 66 points, 712 yards against App State. That’s unbelievable.”

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Clemson managed just one field goal against the Bulldogs and only 188 total yards, including one passing interception and just two yards per carry in the running attack. A week later, they scored 66 points, with touchdowns on all eight of their first-half drives, and did so on 712 yards – one of the best performances in school history.

Cade Klubnik delivered what was undoubtedly his best college performance, completing 24-26 (92.3%) passes for 378 yards, seven points and not a single turnover in the 46-point victory.

This raises the question of which Clemson offense is real. Or is it somewhere in between?

Well, for Klatt, it might actually be more similar to what they saw on Saturday against the Mountaineers.

“So which one is it?” asked Klatt. “Clemson fans, let’s ask. Which one is it?”

“You know what? I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Klatt.

That’s because Klatt has thought highly of that side of the ball since the Tigers hired Garrett Riley last offseason. It just might have taken a season longer than he thought to work out the way he envisioned.

“For the first time since last year, I can honestly say that this is pretty much what I wanted to see last season when Garrett Riley became your offensive coordinator,” Klatt said. “I remember it because, in hindsight, it was probably the prediction I was most off with going into last season in 2023. This idea that Garrett Riley, who TCU after that national championship run with Max Duggan and coming to Clemson, I wanted to improve Cade Klubnik and the offense, which was very stagnant at Clemson. That was the thought. I thought, you know what? I trust, I think Garrett is really good, I think Cade is talented, and I think this is going to work out. Thought, you know what, Clemson is going to win the ACC. Then it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen at all.”

“Maybe I was just a year too early, maybe I was just a year too early. Maybe we’re just now seeing how this pays off,” Klatt said. “That’s what I thought 15 games ago. Maybe they just needed 15 games to develop and really learn the system.”

Clemson obviously needs to do it again, or something similar, before anyone believes that one game could now show who they are on offense. Still, it was a much better performance that could make people believe in the Tigers again, as opposed to Klatt.

“The fan base? I would put it this way, as we check in here – I would put it this way, maybe this is a moment where Klubnik, Garrett Riley and the offense turn things around, OK,” Klatt said. “You don’t have to play Georgia every week. In fact, you can get better and, you know what, maybe at some point you’ll get another chance against Georgia. Maybe at some point you’ll get a chance against Miami in the ACC Championship.”

“We wrote off Clemson because of the way they lost to Georgia. I’m here to get you back on track and say, let’s look here. Because, Clemson? Maybe you’re starting to turn things around offensively here. Maybe that was a sign of things to come.”