On The Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports college football analyst gave his takeaways from Clemson’s 31-14 loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.

Klatt was surprised to see Clemson struggle with Cade Klubnik at quarterback, as he thought the Tigers would thrive with the true freshman at the helm.

“I, for one, thought that they were going to improve offensively with Cade Klubnik at quarterback, and I thought that was a move that would propel them into a mode where they were preparing for next season,” Klatt said. “And because it was kind of more of an end of an era for Tennessee with Hendon Hooker not playing and obviously their wide receivers not playing, I thought that this was leaning towards hey Clemson is going to win this game, and I was totally mistaken by that.”

Klatt added that “on the Clemson side, it was a bit disappointing, to be honest.”

“Because remember, I thought that this was going to be a springboard,” he said. “I thought that this was going to mark the first game of next season for them, and with the momentum that they were going to have, after basically you benched DJ Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik goes out there – a guy that I really believe in, by the way – I thought that this was going to be the start of what could be considered a championship run next season. And it might turn out to be that, but they certainly didn’t play well enough in crucial moments, and obviously missing field goals is going to get you beat.”

While Klatt thinks Tennessee isn’t going anywhere next season, he questions whether Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are falling out of the elite team tier in college football.

“Dabo’s got a little work cut out for him, although I do think that he is in a decent position,” Klatt said. “That’s a good roster, right. I don’t know if they’re quite as talented as it relates to how they compare to other teams around the country, as what they were three or four years ago. Having said that, I do think that we’re starting to see, because of the transfer portal and because of NIL, I do think that we’re starting to see talent move around and spread out a little bit – a little bit. Not a ton, but a little bit. And because of that, maybe it doesn’t affect Clemson quite as much that they aren’t, at least from a talent perspective, what they were four and five years ago.

“Having said that, I do think with Klubnik back, they can say he’s basically an incumbent, and he’s getting some time now and some important time in a big stage to set them up for the next year.”

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