LOUISVILLE, Ky — Back in the preseason, expectations were extremely high for Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik.

Some were pegging the senior signal caller as a Heisman favorite, while many were also predicting him to lead the Tigers on a deep run in the College Football Playoff, and maybe even to a national title.

However, it just wasn’t meant to be. Clemson dropped three of its first four games, with Klubnik not playing well being a significant factor in the struggles.

By the time Klubnik finally started getting into a groove, the Tigers were far removed from any playoff talk. The team was basically already eliminated from contention for the ACC Championship.

“I know we did not get off to the start that we wanted, but there is not another group I would rather be going through this with,” Klubnik said.

While he has no doubt faced his share of adversity during his Clemson career, the quarterback insists he’s still living his best life while in school.

“I have had a great career at Clemson,” Klubnik added. “It has been so fun and full of so many great memories. (Louisville) was another one of those.”

Klubnik has rebounded nicely after his slow start to lead Clemson to wins in four of his last five starts. The senior came into Friday’s game in Louisville having completed 78% of his passes over his previous four games with eight touchdowns to just one interception.

In Friday’s 20-19 win over the Cardinals, Klubnik’s numbers were a little more modest, throwing for just 184 yards with no touchdowns. While he did not throw a pick, he did lose a fumble on the goal line, which, at the time, looked extremely costly.

The defense would quickly force a punt, and on the second play of the series, Adam Randall broke off a 46-yard run down to the Cardinals’ 10-yard line. Four plays later, Randall scored from a yard out, giving Clemson what would ultimately prove to be the winning score.

For Klubnik, watching Randall go to work on that drive was just one more example of the seniors on this team still pushing forward, despite all the lofty preseason goals being long gone. And that is what Klubnik wants the seniors’ legacy to be.

“I think that this senior group and really just the older guys on this team, I think sometimes we look back on our lives and how we want to be remembered and the effect we get to have on the people below us,” he said. “We want to leave a really good mark on the people behind us. I don’t think that is defined by our record. It is defined by the way that we go about our business every single day and continue to fight.”

With his career now winding down, Klubnik knows he has just one more home game remaining. He knows next Saturday, when he runs down the hill ahead of the Furman game, it will be his last time doing so as the quarterback at Clemson.

While that fact has not yet really dawned on him, at some point this week it will.

“No, it hasn’t,” Klubnik said. “I am going to enjoy this one, enjoy the flight home, enjoy tomorrow, and then start smelling the roses a little bit.”

Photo by Bart Boatwright