Cade Klubnik's patience pays off for MVP performance to capture ACC crown, QB1 role

Cade Klubnik was ready for his moment.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Mon Dec 05 12:12:03 GMT-05:00 2022

CHARLOTTE – Cade Klubnik has prepared himself each week as if he would start the game, but Saturday night's ACC Championship Game had a different feel -- and it showed.

The freshman quarterback entered the game on Clemson's third offensive possession and reeled off an MVP performance. Klubnik completed his first ten passes and 20-of-24 overall for 279 yards and a touchdown. He carried the ball seven times for 30 yards and a score and caught a pass for 19 yards.

When his time finally came, Klubnik was ready for the bright lights of Bank of America Stadium.

"With the preparation from kind of that standpoint, Coach (Dabo) Swinney and Coach (Brandon) Streeter told me all year long, prepare every week like you're going to play, and that's been my mindset," Klubnik said after Clemson's 39-10 win over North Carolina. "I've learned so much this year. I'm just super thankful for me just kind of getting to sit back and watch.

"I feel like I've learned so much, so much about quarterback and offense and the defenses and protections. It's been awesome. I think that this week I've really been able to just dial in on North Carolina and just -- I think we had our best week of practice all year. I really do. I think that that kind of showed out tonight, offense and defense. But from a preparation standpoint, I think just kind of prepared like every other week, and that's just how it went."

While Klubnik's preparation wasn't any different, his mindset was.

"I think I had a little bit of a different mindset today. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I was pretty pumped," Klubnik said. "I just came ready to play free and just trust in God's time with everything. I think that's been what I've learned most over the past six months, really, is just trusting God's time with it and just having peace in that and having joy in that, knowing that I didn't know how the game was going to go. I really didn't. But I knew just that God was in control of the whole thing from the very start, from the first snap to now, and it's been awesome just to see what he's been doing. Just to be able to honor him through that has been awesome."

It wasn't until after Clemson scored its first touchdown that the moment became real for Klubnik.

"I think my favorite moment was probably scoring the first touchdown, and I actually just kind of saw my family up in the stands. I didn't know where -- I just found them, and that was a pretty cool moment for me," Klubnik said.

His excitement was on full display after his catch and run on the throwback pass from Phil Mafah that gained 19 yards.

"I told him (Swinney) on the way I wanted the throwback with Phil, and I was like, let's do it early," he said. "That was pretty fun. I wish we would have scored on it, but that was definitely pretty fun."

However, he was most excited for fellow freshman Cole Turner, who was the first Clemson receiver to eclipse the 100-yard mark.

"But, I really loved to see Cole Turner kind of show out tonight," he said. "That was really awesome. Dude is just kind of a silent worker. He is more of a quiet guy but also just a great dude, but he can fly. Like he can run, and he catches the ball. Like Coach Swinney was saying, he's still new to receiver. He's only played one year of football, this being his second year of football. So he's just an athlete. He went and showed what he can do tonight, and I'm excited to see what he can do."