With Cade Klubnik dealing with a sprained ankle suffered in Clemson’s blowout win over Boston College last weekend, the senior quarterback’s status for Saturday’s game against SMU is in question.

Dabo Swinney has remained steadfast in his confidence that Klubnik will be back, but if, for whatever reason, he can’t, the head coach made it clear that Chris Vizzina is next in line.

“If Cade can’t go, CV is the guy for sure,” Swinney said. “He will have to go get it done, and we’ve got confidence that he can.”

Coming into this season, Vizzina had rarely seen the field. However, over the last two weeks, the redshirt sophomore has seen plenty of time due to the Tigers jumping out to big leads over North Carolina and Boston College.

In Chapel Hill, Vizzina connected on 6-of-11 for 39 yards. While he did not throw and interception, he had a couple of close calls. Last week against BC, Vizzina was just 1-of-3 for -2 yards. He rushed it four times for 19 yards.

With his up and down perforamances in these past two games, some have wondered about Vizzina’s ability to take over the reigns fulltime next season after Klubnik is gone.

Swinney was asked what he needed to see from Vizzina the rest of this season to have confidence in him as the Tigers’ starting quarterback in 2026.

“I am not worried about next year, I am just worried about beating SMU,” Swinney said. “I am not worried about any of that stuff. CV has done everything he’s needed to do in practice, and that is the only opportunity he’s had. That is what we go by.”

Swinney made it pretty clear that next season is not the priority at this time. He is only worried about having his team ready to play SMU, in what will be a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship Game.

“I am not worried about next year. I ain’t worried about next week,” Swinney said. “I am worried about having a good Thursday and trying to win the game Saturday.”

Photo by Bart Boatwright