Cade Klubnik on Clemson’s run to College Football Playoff: ‘Nobody really wanted us here’

Clemson fell short of its ultimate goal of winning the College Football Playoff after losing to Texas on Saturday. Still, the tenacious Tigers were able to fight through adversity all season and win the ACC Championship in improbable fashion, as well being the first-ever three-loss team to make the CFP.

With the odds stacked against them, Clemson still came out and took an early lead on the Longhorns. While that ultimately didn’t last, it wasn’t from a lack of effort.

Get your team’s official College Football Playoff watch from AXIA by CLICKING HERE: “Watches that tell so much more than time”

Quarterback Cade Klubnik threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns during the contest. Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome Texas and its salty defense. Klubnik expressed his emotions after the game during Clemson’s postgame press conference.

“I hate losing. I hate losing, and I hate losing in the playoffs,” Klubnik shared postgame. “But nobody picked us to be here in the beginning. Nobody believed in us. Nobody really wanted us here. But we believed in each other, and this group of guys that has fought together.”

Klubnik also shared a message directed toward his teammates, airing it publically in front of the reporters at the presser. He revealed the message he sent to his team as a leader following the loss.

“I just think of Jake Briningstool and Barrett and Tristan Leigh and Marcus [Tate], just naming a few guys. I feel like a year ago they were just like my teammates, and this year they’re like truly my brothers,” Klubnik continued. “Because we’ve walked through life together, we’ve walked through hard times. I spoke up and shared how much it sucked and also was kind of vulnerable.

“I also just kind of shared with them that I’m very thankful that I get to go through hard times — that I get to go through hard times with people that I love and that love me because I can’t imagine going through the stuff that we’ve gone through where I didn’t love the people around me.”

Klubnik said he’s hurting and had too many emotions going on at the time, but made sure to let the fans know how much his teammates meant to him this season. It was by far the best season of his career statistically for the Tigers QB, and credits the teammates he named, and everyone else in the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex.

“They’ve had such an impact on the player that I am, but the man that I’m going to be and that I am now,” he said. “So just kind of wanted to tell everybody in the room that.”