Cade Klubnik: Nothing is more important than this week for Clemson

Clemson has a big ACC road game this Saturday with a trip to south Florida to face Miami. And quarterback Cade Klubnik offered a glimpse into the mindset the Tigers are hoping to take south with them.

In short: The next game is the only game that matters. Things might not have gone as Clemson hoped to date, but they can still achieve some of their goals, including winning league games in October and November.

“We were still planning on winning this game. Our goal hasn’t changed in the month of October or November. We’re still playing to win all those games and, you know, we’re locked in on this week and I think he [Dabo Swinney] does a great job of reminding us of that,” Klubnik said.

Entering the season, Clemson was a potential College Football Playoff contender. Then the Tigers lost on the road at Duke to start the year and dropped a game to Florida State to end September with two losses.

It’s certainly not been the start Klubnik, Swinney or anyone around Clemson football hoped for, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find a finish everyone can be content with.

And that starts against Miami this Saturday for Klubnik and Co.

“That’s all that matters. Really nothing else matters other than this week. At the beginning of the year, we were still planning on winning this game. It doesn’t matter that we lost two games before, it’s not like our goal has changed in the week of Miami,” Klubnik said.

Clemson is entering the Miami game of a ‘reset’

After racking up back-to-back wins, Clemson got to the bye week at 4-2, looking to reset and refocus on the team’s goals now that the team has experienced a couple losses.

Swinney knows his team needed it after a long haul.

“It’s big. I mean most people don’t really realize what all these guys do,” Swinney said. “I think a lot of times we forget that these are human beings and they’re not robots. They’re not a part of a Madden game. These are real people and they’re students.

“I mean there’s a lot going on for these guys, academically, they’re young people, socially, you name it. They’ve been grinding for all summer and then you go through all camp, and now you’ve got six weeks and you’ve got performance and expectations. It’s a lot on these guys. It’s a lot on anybody.”