Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik has taken off and started to flourish over the past two games.
After the season-opening loss to Georgia, when Klubnik struggled against a stifling Bulldogs defense, Klubnik has bounced back in a big way with stellar performances in wins over App State and NC State.
Since the Georgia game, when Klubnik went 18-of-29 passing for 142 yards with an interception and no scores, he has looked like a different QB against the Mountaineers and Wolfpack. Across those two games, he completed 80 percent of his passes for 587 yards and accounted for 11 total touchdowns (eight passing, three rushing).
On Wednesday, Klubnik’s quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, met with the media and spoke about the growth and development he’s seen from the Tigers’ starting signal-caller.
“He’s certainly grown. I mean, there’s no question about it,” Riley said of Klubnik. “And collectively, we’re doing things at a higher rate that allows a quarterback to maybe grow how we’ve seen the last few weeks. If we’re not all doing things at a higher rate, it’s going to be hard for your quarterback to probably dramatically improve. So, I just attribute his growth to a lot of the stuff that he’s done individually and the work that he’s put in. But I also attribute it to what we’re doing around him.”
A former five-star prospect and former Texas Gatorade Player of the Year, Klubnik had an up-and-down first full season as Clemson’s starting QB in 2023, when he completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,844 yards and 19 touchdowns with nine interceptions, while adding 182 yards and four scores on the ground.
After showing glimpses of what he’s capable of last year, Klubnik has put his potential on full display of late. But Riley knows “there’s always room for improvement,” and he discussed how he’d like to see Klubnik take the next step moving forward.
“There’s always room for improvement. I’m quickly to let him know every day that he doesn’t have it all figured out, either,” Riley said with a smile. “But he’s been really playing well the last two weeks, but there’s certainly things that he can still improve on. We left a little meat on the bone there the other day. I thought we had a few other opportunities to go get a couple more touchdowns in the NC State game. But listen, he’s doing some great stuff. We’ve just got to continue and know we’re not always going to be up 28-0 in the first quarter. I hope so, but that’s probably not going to happen every single game. So, we’ve got to continue to improve.”
Heading into Saturday’s game vs. Stanford at Death Valley (7 p.m., ESPN), Klubnik has completed 73.4 percent of his passes for 729 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception through three games this season, to go with 58 rushing yards and three rushing scores on 10 carries.
A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available! Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!
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