CLEMSON – For all of the Clemson Tigers’ faults in the 46-45 loss to the Duke Blue Devils Saturday, quarterback Cade Klubnik was a bright spot.
Klubnik, a senior, battled back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for Clemson’s loss to SMU on Oct. 18 to start for the Tigers at Memorial Stadium against the Blue Devils. In his 35th career start at Clemson, the veteran notched 385 passing yards, a career-high, and two touchdowns. He also led his team to seven scoring drives and was forced to punt only three times.
In the loss, Klubnik became the sole-owner of the fourth-most 300-yard passing games in Clemson history, but fell to a 23-13 record as a starter dating back to the Orange Bowl against Tennessee in 2022.
“I thought Cade competed his butt off,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after the game. “I mean (his ankle) wasn’t 100% but he was tremendous. I mean, he played a heck of a ball game.”
Despite putting up the greatest number of points and total yards in a game this season for Clemson, the nearly 50 points were not enough to shut down Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah and that prolific offense.
Still, Klubnik can look back with pride at the performance the offense was able to piece together in front of a home crowd.
“Just really proud of our guys, I’m really proud of our offensive line and our running backs, they played unbelievably,” Klubnik said. “Coach had challenged them throughout the week, and they answered the challenge really well. Just played their tail off and never stopped playing.”
For Klubnik, who is now responsible for the second-most completions of any Clemson quarterback, the loss is especially disappointing because his time in the Upstate will quickly come to a close. Soon, Klubnik will graduate and run out of eligibility at the season’s close.
“I love this place,” he said in an emotional postgame press conference. “I got a few more days here, and I want to just give it everything I have. The fans that are here and the community, everything of what it means to be here, it’s just been a dream come true. So I’ll just continue to fight for four more weeks.”
The Austin, Texas, native has been Clemson’s starter through three calendar years, two presidential elections, two ACC Championships, and now, the worst start in Clemson history since 1998. While his preseason goals did not include five losses, a last-second heartbreaker to Duke, or an injury, Klubnik is determined to stand strong in his beliefs.
“In terms of my motivation, I lean on my faith a lot,” he said. “I’m going to continue to play quarterback and continue to lead as if I’m working for the Lord.”
Despite an emotional day for the Tigers’ signal-caller and his offense, Clemson must regroup quickly to face another ACC foe in Florida State (3-4, 0-4 ACC) at Memorial Stadium Saturday. The game will mark one of Klubnik’s last two home games and last four total regular-season games as a Tiger.
Photo by Bart Boatwright