CLEMSON — Clemson football's offense scored three points in its 31-point loss to Georgia, but Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was still impressed by quarterback Cade Klubnik.

Klubnik was 18-for-29 with 142 passing yards but threw zero touchdowns and one interception. It was the fourth game under Swinney in which Clemson didn't record a touchdown. Despite the lack of points, Swinney supported his quarterback.

"We're very confident in Cade and where he is and where he's going," Swinney said. "He wasn't the reason we lost the game."

Swinney said Klubnik had great vision on Saturday and had "two to three balls" where plays should've been made. One was to wide receiver Cole Turner in the second quarter, where it appeared the wideout stopped running the route on the deep throw. Another was in the third quarter when Klubnik had a touchdown to wide receiver Antonio Williams on a corner route in the end zone, but Williams could not locate the ball.

When Klubnik made big-time throws, Swinney said penalties doomed drives. An example was on the Tigers' third drive of the game. Klubnik connected on a 36-yard pass to Williams, then hit him again for an 11-yard third-down conversion. However, it was reversed on an illegal formation penalty, and the possession led to a punt.

"He gave us plenty of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of," Swinney said. "Unfortunately, when you play the No. 1 team in the country, you're not going to get a lot of opportunities."

Swinney said Klubnik was "good, not great," pointing out mistakes the quarterback made. The Tigers coach credited both sacks to the quarterback for holding onto the ball too long. For Klubnik's lone interception, he credited Georgia's Malaki Starks for making an "amazing football play."

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Swinney also pointed out Klubnik's two worst plays on Saturday. He said the first came on the first play of the game when the quarterback missed running back Phil Mafah in the flat for what could have been a huge gain. The second happened in the red zone in the third quarter when Klubnik kept the ball on a designed quarterback run but ran past his blockers and slipped for a 3-yard loss.

Swinney took many positives from the Tigers' performance despite the loss and wants them to capitalize on opportunities when they happen. Clemson (0-1) looks to rebound vs. Appalachian State (1-0) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network) at Memorial Stadium.

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney defends Cade Klubnik after Georgia loss