We are under a week away from Clemson’s kick-off of their 2023-2024 season, and the excitement keeps getting bigger as Labor Day Monday is within reach.
You could sense the excitement from the players today, when five of the Tigers spoke to the media, as well as their high hopes for the season. With hopes to bounce back into the top tier of the college football world, this team has the leaders and the hunger to do it.
It started with sixth-year defensive end Justin Mascoll, who had high praise for defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, who has shaken off the first-year nerves, and Mascoll believes that he has taken the next step as coordinator.
“I love it for Wes,” Mascoll raves. “Honestly, he came a long way from last year as far as just being more vocal, telling us what he needs and what he wants, and guys have been great with getting him what he needs and what he wants, so I’m excited for him this year.”
Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., agrees with Mascoll, that by creating a lot of “uncertainty” with the defense, it allows a lot more stops and could shake up the Blue Devil offense come Monday.
“He definitely implemented some different changes during the offseason as far as little things that confuse offenses,” Trotter said. “He’s always trying to look for ways that he can improve not just himself, but also the defense and the players and us as a group.”
On the offensive side of the ball, players have similar sentiments. Starting with the man signaling the whole offense: quarterback Cade Klubnik, who gave an “iron sharpens iron” type response when asked about the defense.
“I think our defense has done an incredible job of preparing our offense since January,” Klubnik said. “I think a great defense makes a great offense, and vice versa, so it’s been really exciting.”
From the guy who faces the defense head-on, sophomore Right Tackle Blake Miller said the defense is ready. When facing guys like defensive end Xavier Thomas throughout spring practices and fall camp, he is concerned for opposing offensive lines.
“Honestly, all those guys out there are beasts, they’re ballers,” Miller detailed. “I don’t see how anybody is going to block them this year just because they’re all freaks of nature out there.”
It’s not only the explosiveness that Goodwin provides, but it is also the leadership that decided to return for graduate seasons and forego the NFL Draft, like Mascoll. The Snellville, Georgia native, met with the players returning and all are motivated to not have a season like the one they just had.
“It was really after Tennessee and really after the South Carolina game, we didn’t finish how we wanted to,” Mascoll explained. “We didn’t finish, one of our team goals was to win the closer, and we felt like we could come back and do a lot bigger things than just going to a bowl game. My mind is set on a national championship but right now we’re focused on Duke and getting the job done with Duke.”
But this mantra has been played on all parts of the defense, including the secondary. When defensive back Andrew Mukuba spoke on the leadership in the secondary, he believed that the position group will have a lot better of a season compared to 2022.
“The experience and playmaking of the DBs are going to play a big role,” Mukuba said. “I think that we have great chemistry as a group.”
With this leadership, Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. has marked it as something that helps the whole team stay on track, which is important when the goal at the end of the season is making it to Houston, where the national championship game will be played.
“I feel like having leaders on a team is very beneficial because when guys are maybe straying off course or, you know not seeing the end goal, the leaders are going to be the ones that bring everybody back in line,” the linebacker said. “And when you have everybody on the team that wants to be a leader and have that mindset, it makes things so much easier.”
This leadership helped players like Mukuba, who struggled when it came to the end of last season, where the secondary struggled to close out games or shut down big plays which ultimately hurt the Tigers.
“I feel like that’s something I needed because I was down a lot of times,” Mukuba said. “I feel like I needed someone to challenge me to where, you know, now I feel like I have no choice by to go do it.”
With only five days left until Clemson kicks off their season, Klubnik will begin his first game as Clemson’s outright starter, being put in a position where nerves might be present, but the sophomore signal-caller is unfazed.
“I’m excited,” Klubnik said. “I think that’s one thing that I’ve kind of been blessed with, I don’t get too nervous because I get to go play.. . It’s a game that I love and I’m excited to go play.”
When asked about what it will take to beat the Blue Devils away from home, the calm quarterback put it simply if the Tigers want to start the year off with a win.
“I just think we need to just go play our ball, just do what we do,” Klubnik said. “We don’t need to be anything special you know, we just need to just do what we do and do what we have been doing in the last 8 months and have fun and play free.”
With fans being able to witness head coach Dabo Swinney and his team face off in primetime on Monday, the Tigers will hope to showcase all of the talent and work that was put in the offseason in order to have another phenomenal season.
