CLEMSON — Saturday’s SMU at Clemson game was supposed to be a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship, and possibly a preview of this year’s title game in Charlotte.

Though SMU has held up its end of the bargain, the Tigers have not.

Clemson is just 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, while the Mustangs are undefeated in league play (2-0) and are 4-2 overall.

The game was supposed to be built up as a battle between two of the conference’s best quarterbacks, too. SMU’s Kevin Jennings and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik.

After a rough start to the season, Klubnik settled down and put up big numbers in the Tigers’ wins over North Carolina and Boston College the last two weeks, while Jennings ranks second in the ACC in passing yards and is tied for first in touchdown passes.

However, that too is likely taken off the table, after reports surfaced Thursday that Klubnik will likely miss Saturday’s game due to a sprained ankle.

Once a marquee game for the ACC, Saturday’s game at Memorial Stadium will likely be a dud, as Clemson is in serious trouble of losing a fifth straight home game to a Power 4 opponent, something that has not happened at Clemson since the 1970 and 1971 teams lost six straight.

The Tigers are also in jeopardy of losing a third home game this season, something that has not happened at Clemson since 2001.

What can you expect inside Death Valley on Saturday?

Nothing, I guess.

This might spell the end for this year’s Clemson team, a group that took nearly a month to get over the loss to LSU, and now, right when it was starting to find its way back, it loses its quarterback in a big-time conference matchup that they desperately need to win.

But maybe this is a good thing. Maybe this is an opportunity for Christopher Vizzina to become the next Chase Brice or Willie Simmons.

The difference is Brice and Simmons came in for an injured Trevor Lawrence and Woodrow Dantzler. It was much easier that way. Less time to think about things. Just go and sling the football

The last time Clemson had a backup quarterback start was in 2020. That is when D.J. Uiagalelei started for Trevor Lawrence, who was out with COVID. Uiagalelei led the Tigers back from 18 points down to beat Boston College, matching the largest come-from-behind win in Memorial Stadium history.

Can that happen with Vizzina on Saturday?

I am not sure. However, let’s hope it does not come down to it.