Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Updates Cade Klubnik Injury Ahead of Duke Game

As both the Clemson Tigers and Duke Blue Devils come back from their second open dates of the 2025 season, fans and coaches alike hope to see a competitive and healthy matchup ahead of the Week 10 contest.

This past Wednesday, head coach Dabo Swinney spoke to the media, expressing his optimism about starting quarterback Cade Klubnik's health as the team enters the weekend.

"He's been practicing a good amount. He's getting better each day, I'm proud of him," Swinney said. "We'll put out an availability report tomorrow night, but he's had a good week. Our team has had a great week."

Klubnik went down with an ankle injury late in the third quarter of Clemson's Week 7 win over Boston College. While he was determined to return to the field that same night, Swinney decided to keep him on the bench to rest and ice up.

But, it was worse than most thought, even Klubnik himself. The injury was diagnosed as a sprained ankle, which ultimately kept him out for another week. The snowball effect sent redshirt sophomore Christopher Vizzina to the front of the line, making his first collegiate start three years into his tenure at Clemson for a Week 8 SMU matchup.

While the Tigers would fall to the Mustangs, 35-24, Vizzina showed an immense amount of promise in his first complete game, throwing for 317 yards and three touchdowns. If Klubnik isn't able to make the start again, Swinney trusts his next guy up.

"He was confident before [SMU], but as I said the other day, there's nothing like experience," Swinney stated. "Not only experience, but positive experience, to reinforce what you've been doing and what you think you can do. We've seen that in practice, he's had a good skip in his step. But you know, it's one game. He's got to create consistency with more opportunities as they come. Still, it's been really good; he's had a good focus to him at practice, and he's been that way. That's one of the reasons he played well. He's really shown up each week and prepared to play, and that's not always easy to do when you're not getting the opportunity. So, he deserves a lot of credit for that."

That preparation, Swinney noted, isn't by coincidence. Clemson Football's 'next man up' mentality has been intentional all season, ensuring that every player stays sharp and equally prepared to step up and contribute when their moment arrives.

"Our first two quarterbacks get the same reps," Swinney told the media. "Sometimes we'll interchange guys accordingly and get some crossovers between the ones and the twos, but [Vizzina] has gotten a lot of reps."