ATLANTA — Cade Klubnik was not wrong. Following No. 12 Clemson’s 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, the quarterback said the Tigers were just a couple of plays away.
He is right. They were.
Two of those plays were the two worst plays Clemson made at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday.
“Those are two plays I want back,” Klubnik said.
The first was a fumble by Klubnik on the Tigers’ opening drive, which led to a 40-yard Aidan Birr field goal.
“The ball kind of got away from me,” Klubnik said. “I got to lower my shoulder on the guy, which I feel like I did the rest of the game. I just kind of planted weird on my left ankle and the ball got away from me when the guy hit me.”
The second turnover, an interception, did not lead to any Georgia Tech points, but it cost Clemson points. And in a game that came down to a 55-yard career field goal by Birr, every play mattered.
The interception by Tech safety Omar Daniels came at his own 8-yard line, as the Tigers opened the second half with a long drive that had them knocking on the door. However, Klubnik thought he had T.J. Moore open on a post, but Daniels jumped up and snagged the ball out of the air and returned the interception 45 yards to the Clemson 48-yard line.
“Credit to that safety, he made a heck of a play,” Klubnik said. “We were RPOing him. He came all the way down the box and I tried to throw it over him, but he got up and made a play.”
Those two plays were even more disappointing considering how Klubnik played the rest of the game. The senior completed 15 of 26 passes for 207 yards, while running for 62 yards on 17 carries. He threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Wesco in the third quarter and he also had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“The story of the game is two turnovers and they got three points off of two turnovers. That is the difference in the game,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
Clemson finished the game with those two turnovers, while Georgia Tech had one. It marked the first time in 16 games the Tigers lost the turnover battle.
