Despite the outcome of Saturday’s bowl game, Cade Klubnik left behind a legacy at Clemson.

The senior quarterback played in his final college game on Saturday when the Tigers faced Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York.

Though the Tigers (7-6) lost to the Nittany Lions (7-6), 22-10, Klubnik made history on Saturday and etched his name in the school history books during his Clemson career.

Klubnik broke Clemson legend Tajh Boyd’s all-time school record for completions. Boyd had 901 completions during his career as a Tiger, and Klubnik broke that record with a 44-yard completion to T.J. Moore in the second quarter of Saturday’s game.

Klubnik entered the game with 894 completions and finishes his career with 916 after completing 22 passes Saturday.

Also, in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, Klubnik became the fourth quarterback in school history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards. Before the game, Klubnik had 9,930 yards passing and finishes his career with 10,123 after throwing for 193 yards Saturday.

The other three Clemson quarterbacks who went over 10,000 passing yards during their careers are Boyd (11,904 from 2010-13), Deshaun Watson (10,163 from 2014-16), and Trevor Lawrence (10,098 from 2018-20).

“I love this kid. He’s a warrior, man,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said of Klubnik following the Pinstripe Bowl. “He’s as tough as they come. He is the same guy every day. He shows up and battles, he shows up and competes every single day. He’s gonna be a great pro. He’s just now scratching what his true potential is gonna be, and I can’t wait to watch it.”

Entering the Pinstripe Bowl, Klubnik had completed 64.2% of his career passes for 9,930 yards and 73 touchdowns with 24 interceptions from 2022-25.

Klubnik experienced his ups and downs during his Clemson career, but the former five-star prospect from Texas led the Tigers to ACC titles in 2022 and 2024, earning MVP honors in both games, and helped Clemson make the College Football Playoff in 2024. He is one of only three two-time ACC Championship Game MVPs all-time.  

Klubnik entered his senior campaign already ranking in the top five in Clemson history in nearly every passing category, including passing touchdowns, passing yards, passing attempts and completions. He finished his career third in Clemson history in passing yards with 10,123 yards.

Saturday marked the 40th and final college start for Klubnik, who finishes his career with a 26-14 record as a starter. This season, he became the sixth Clemson quarterback since World War II to win at least 25 games as a starting quarterback. 

“This kid has done a lot of great things, and it’s easy to focus on what we didn’t do or this and that,” Swinney said. “… I focus on what he did do. … This kid has a lot more football ahead of him, and whoever gets to coach Cade Klubnik will be better because of it.”

–Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images