Cade Klubnik

HISTORY — From College Profile

 

Energetic leader and former Texas Gatorade Player of the Year … enters 2024 having completed 351-of-554 career passes for 3,541 yards with 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 1,198 career snaps over 23 games (14 starts) … has also rushed for 321 yards and six touchdowns on 167 career carries and caught one pass for 19 yards.

2023: Completed 290-of-454 passes for 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions as well as having rushed 125 times for 182 yards and four touchdowns in 974 snaps over 12 games (all starts) … his 974 snaps were the fourth-most by a Clemson quarterback in a season and the most since Deshaun Watson’s 1,115 in 2016 … accounted for 579 plays of total offense (combined rushing and passing attempts), the most by a Clemson player since Kelly Bryant in 2017 (590) … his 290 completions were the fourth-most pass completions in a single season in Clemson history … All-ACC Academic Team selection … completed 27-of-43 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception and added 34 rushing yards on 12 carries at Duke … completed 28-of-37 passes for 315 yards with a career-high four touchdown passes and one interception vs. Charleston Southern … with the performance against Charleston Southern, he became the first Clemson quarterback with 25 or more completions in three straight games since Cullen Harper in 2007 … completed 16-of-27 passes for 169 yards with three passing touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed six times for 35 yards with a rushing touchdown vs. Florida Atlantic, becoming the first Clemson quarterback to be responsible for four touchdowns in consecutive games since Trevor Lawrence in 2020 … completed 25-of-38 passes for 283 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and also scored a one-yard rushing touchdown vs. No. 4 Florida State … completed 23-of-37 passes for 263 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions at Syracuse, sharing team offensive player of the game honors … completed 18-of-28 passes for 131 yards and rushed 12 times for 48 yards with a touchdown vs. Wake Forest … completed 18-of-34 passes for 314 yards with two touchdowns and an interception at Miami (Fla.), the third 300-yard passing performance of his career … completed 33-of-50 passes for 263 yards at NC State; his 33 completions were a career high and tied for the eighth-most in school history … completed 13-of-26 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in leading Clemson to victory vs. No. 12 Notre Dame; also recorded a 37-yard punt on a surprise pooch kick that pinned Notre Dame at its four-yard line … completed 23-of-34 passes for 205 yards and a career-high tying four touchdown passes vs. Georgia Tech, earning team offensive player of the game honors … completed 21-of-32 passes for 219 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions and also added 44 yards and a rushing touchdown on 12 carries vs. No. 20 North Carolina … completed 15-of-27 passes for 100 yards and rushed for a career-high 52 yards on 11 attempts at South Carolina, becoming the 25th Clemson quarterback since 1954 to win his starting debut in the series against the Gamecocks … completed 30-of-41 passes for 264 yards in the Gator Bowl vs. Kentucky, including going 8-for-8 as he led Clemson on a 12-play, 68-yard game-winning drive in 2:17 of elapsed game time in Clemson’s comeback victory … also went an uncredited 2-for-3 on two-point conversions in the contest.

2022: Completed 61-of-100 passes for 697 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in 224 snaps over 10 games (one start) in his debut season … also rushed 42 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns on the year … ACC Championship Game MVP … All-ACC Academic Team selection … made collegiate debut at Georgia Tech, engineering a 10-play, 66-yard drive on which he completed 4-of-6 passes for 49 yards and a three-yard touchdown pass to Will Taylor … went 1-for-4 vs. Furman .. completed 2-of-5 passes for 19 yards and rushed twice for seven yards vs. Louisiana Tech … saw action at Boston College, rushing once … entered in the third quarter vs. No. 14 Syracuse and completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards and rushing six times for 15 yards as he became the first backup quarterback to engineer a fourth-quarter comeback win for Clemson since 2018 (Chase Brice vs. Syracuse) … played two snaps in reserve at Notre Dame … rushed once for 13 yards vs. Louisville … completed 2-of-2 passes for 13 yards and rushed twice for 20 yards vs. Miami (Fla.) … earned ACC Championship Game MVP honors against No. 24 North Carolina after completing 20-of-24 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown, rushing seven times for 30 yards with a rushing touchdown and recording a 19-yard reception … became only the third freshman to be named ACC Championship Game MVP, joining Florida State’s Jameis Winston (2013) and Dalvin Cook (2014) … was the first player in ACC history to earn the honor after entering an ACC Championship Game in reserve … his 83.3 completion percentage was an ACC Championship Game record … completed 30-of-54 passes for 320 yards and rushed 20 times for 51 yards with a touchdown in the Orange Bowl vs. No. 6 Tennessee, becoming the first Clemson quarterback since the modernization of Clemson’s quarterback position in 1953 to make his first career start in a postseason game and also becoming the first Clemson quarterback to make his first career start against an AP Top 6 opponent since his offensive coordinator, Brandon Streeter, did so against No. 5 Florida State in 1997 … recorded Clemson’s fifth consecutive 300-yard passing game in games started by true freshmen, dating to 2018.

High School: Ranked as the top quarterback in the nation by Sports Illustrated, PrepStar, and Rivals.com … ranked as second-best quarterback by 247Sports and third by ESPN.com … two-time USA Today Offensive Player of the Year (2020 and 2021) … Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas and was named as one of three finalists for National Gatorade Player of the Year for 2021 … named MVP of the Elite 11 Camp in the summer of 2021 … guided Westlake High School in Austin, Texas to three consecutive state championships in 2019, 2020 and 2021, including the final two years as the starter … became the first quarterback to go undefeated as a starter while winning back-to-back state titles in Texas’ highest classification since Allen’s Kyler Murray … threw two touchdown passes in the All-American Bowl and was named as the organization’s National High School Player of the Year … ranked as the No. 3 overall player in the nation by Rivals.com and best player in Texas and best pro-style quarterback nationally … ranked as the No. 13 player in the nation by 247Sports, which also listed him as the second-best quarterback and third-best player in Texas … five-star quarterback according to Rivals.com, 247Sports and PrepStar … rated No. 24 overall in the nation by PrepStar, which listed him as the sixth-best player in Texas … ESPN.com ranked him as the nation’s No. 66 overall player and third-best quarterback … rated by On3 Sports as the nation’s No. 36 overall prospect, the nation’s fourth-best quarterback and the ninth-best prospect in Texas … played in 38 career games (including 37 Westlake wins), including a 27-0 mark as a starter his last two years … completed 481-of-687 (70.0 percent) career passes for 7,426 yards and 86 touchdowns vs. just seven interceptions, adding 197 carries for 1,319 rushing yards (6.7 avg.) and 31 touchdowns … had 8,745 career yards of total offense on 884 plays (9.9 yards per play) … accounted for 117 touchdowns — 86 passing and 31 rushing … came off the bench as a sophomore when he completed 53-of-69 passes (76.8) for 680 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception … as a junior, completed 239-of-354 passes (67.5) for 3,495 yards, 35 touchdowns and just three interceptions … also had 583 yards rushing in 98 attempts for a 5.9-yard average and 15 touchdowns … had standout games against Smithson Valley, when he completed 25-of-29 passes for 345 yards and four scores, and against San Marcos, when he rushed for four touchdowns … team had a 14-0 record and won the state title in 2020 against Southlake Carroll and highly rated quarterback Quinn Ewers (now at Texas by way of Ohio State) … as a senior in 2021, completed 189-of-265 (71.3) passes for 3,251 yards and 43 touchdowns against just three interceptions as the Chaps finished the year 16-0 … also rushed 70 times for 465 yards and 12 scores … missed three games with an injury … threw six touchdowns passes in a game twice as a senior and had 300-yard passing games against Trinity (322), Mansfield Summit (375) and in the state semifinals against Katy (310) … hit 20-of-27 passes for 310 yards and five touchdowns in that semifinal vs. Katy … threw for four touchdowns in state championship win against Denton Guyer … coached by Todd Dodge at Westlake High School, the same high school program that produced Super Bowl MVPs Drew Brees and Nick Foles … committed to Clemson on March 2, 2021 … enrolled at Clemson in January 2022.

Personal: Marketing major … two-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree (2022-23) … two-time ACC Honor Roll selection (2022-23) … completed a microinternship with First Rate Exchange Services in London in May 2024 … his brother, Reed, played wide receiver at Yale … last name pronounced “CLUB-nick” … born Oct. 10, 2003.

2022

passing
ATT	YPA	PCT	YDS	INT	TD	COMPLETIONS
100.0	7.0	0.61	697.0	3.0	2.0	61.0

rushing
YPC	TD	YDS	CAR	LONG
3.3	2.0	139.0	42.0	16.0

receiving
REC	YPR	TD	LONG	YDS
1.0	19.0	0.0	19.0	19.0

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
0.0	0.0	1.0