After making his first career start in the Orange Bowl as a true freshman last season following a stellar performance in the ACC Championship Game, Cade Klubnik is entering his sophomore season in 2023 as Clemson’s starting quarterback.

Everybody has seen Klubnik perform at a high level, and he showed what he is capable of at the end of last year. But what’s the level of competition for the starting quarterback job this season?

New Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley was asked during the Tigers’ media outing on Tuesday if there will be competition for Klubnik as QB1.

“I think there always is,” Riley said. “No matter what you did last year and no matter what you did in spring football, you’ve got to come out and you’ve got to be able to do that in fall camp where we have enough confidence in you to move forward and continue to give you reps, and that’s just how it always works.

“Everybody in here has seen starters that started the first game and then they get pulled at halftime. That’s the nature of the beast. So, I think they always know that there’s always competition.”

n Clemson’s ACC Championship Game victory over North Carolina last season, Klubnik came off the bench to go 20-of-24 passing for 279 yards and a touchdown and added 30 rushing yards with another score en route to being named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

That outstanding performance earned Klubnik his first career start in the Orange Bowl vs. Tennessee, when he completed 30-of-54 passes for 320 yards with two interceptions while rushing 20 times for 51 yards and a touchdown.

The former five-star prospect and former Texas Gatorade Player of the Year finished his freshman campaign with 697 passing yards and two passing touchdowns with three interceptions, to go with 139 rushing yards and two more scores over 10 games (one start).

We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class.  Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class. Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.

Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.