Klubnik, Tigers have 'Great Energy' heading into Georgia Game

CLEMSON — The 14th-ranked Clemson Tigers start off the 2024 season with a massive challenge, facing the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta.

Though the game is being played on a neutral site at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Tigers are treating Saturday’s noon matchup with the Bulldogs as if they are at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. On all sides of the ball, the Tigers have been physically and mentally training to take down the Bulldogs.

In the final interview before the big game, junior quarterback Cade Klubnik came in front of the press and shared the team’s mentality and preparation.

“We’ve had a great energy to us all year and, especially this fall camp and this summer,” he said. “We’re a really tight group and it’s fun to come back and play another season with a lot of guys I’ve already played with.”

All summer long, as well as carrying into the fall, has been marked with a special type of energy and mentality for the Tigers. They are especially harnessing it to take on this upcoming season opener.

“I woke up Monday morning and I was like, ‘I didn’t wake up with this energy that came out of nowhere. I woke up the same I have the last four weeks since we started fall camp,'” Klubnik said. “I spoke to the team like, ‘Hey, if you’re waking up with a different energy than you have been every single day at fall camp, we’ve been doing fall camp wrong.'”

The energy and mentality that the Tigers have harnessed throughout this entire offseason isn’t just off the excitement for the first week against the Bulldogs, which will be a massive proving grounds for Clemson. In quite the opposite way, they are using the culture they have built over the entire summer and fall to further boost their preparation for Georgia.

“Coach [Dabo] Swinney spoke on it yesterday and said, ‘Hey, there are teams all around the country that are working their butt off for 12 weeks straight to be able to play a team like this in the playoffs, and we get to start out with them in a regular season game,'” Klubnik said.

While so much of the preparation and focus is going into facing such a behemoth of an opponent, it is more-so an opportunity to jumpstart the season. With a win against Georgia, the Tigers can jump up high in the polls.

For the players, however, they aren’t worried about what comes in Week 2 or what there ranking will be.

“Right now, I’m focused on having the best practice I can go have today, and when Saturday comes around, it’ll come around,” Klubnik said.