How Clemson QB Cade Klubnik Can Get Last Season's Form Back in 2025

Perhaps one of the most underwhelming players this season has been Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik, who has gone from a Heisman hopeful to one of the most criticized signal callers across college football.

Luckily, the season is far from over, and Clemson has eight games remaining to create its identity. It starts with a team’s quarterback for many, and Klubnik will need to elevate his game back to the 2024 season that saw him stand out.

The plays have shown the flashes, but there are ways that the senior can get back to how he was last year. Here are three things that the offense has to see with Klubnik to get more success.

Play fast, play free

Playing fast goes with the word “tempo,” which was something Klubnik described as something he enjoys playing with and feels comfortable doing.

Clemson had to run a lot of it during its loss to Syracuse on Sept. 20, being down by multiple scores. Klubnik and the offense had to play fast to keep a foot in the door.

“I love playing with tempo, and I feel like we did it really well, especially in the fourth quarter, but even in the first and second,” Klubnik said after the game, “just got to continue to do that and find ways to overcome a delay, whenever it is.”

The Tigers had three drives of more than seven plays running this type of offense, scoring a touchdown on the first despite turning the ball over on downs the other two times. While the style of play worked, the game script did not, and it was the stagnancy in the beginning parts of the contest that ended up costing Clemson the game.

However, it worked at times, and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is challenging Klubnik with putting losses past him. It will allow him to play more freely, something that he does a great job at. Look no further than the game against Texas, where he threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns.

“We need to have a short-term memory,” he said last week to the media.

Being pocket aware

Klubnik’s biggest difficulty has been his actions after the pocket collapses or leaving it prematurely.

It was present against LSU, where the senior was rattled early and had to move around the backfield to find a pass. Some of those times, he didn’t need to do that, especially if there was a man open in the pocket.

That’s another thing that Riley has challenged Klubnik to do, with some of his best throws over the course of this season, and the last two have been patient pocket throws.

“There has been times where he’s stood in there this year and has made some good plays within the pocket,” Riley said, “but you just have to continue to have trust and where your eyes need to be, and just really basic routine stuff that we require at the quarterback position.”

One of Klubnik’s best throws to mention was in Clemson’s only win against Troy, when the Austin, Texas, native remained in the pocket, saw some pressure and delivered a perfect pass to receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 34-yard touchdown.

The flashes are there; it’s about braving the storm that Klubnik needs to continue to do.

Spreading the wealth

Tight end Jake Briningstool left Clemson with the most receptions for the position in program history, and he spent two years with Klubnik as his quarterback. That says a lot about the importance of the position to him.

It’s been the Wesco show in the first four games, and while it’s a treat for the quarterback to have one of the best sophomore receivers in the country, the second-highest receiver with the most yards has almost 200 yards less in the first four games.

Klubnik has been an advocate for sharing the ball among different players, speaking about it after his standout performance against Appalachian State last season, where he threw for five touchdowns to four different receivers.

“When you’ve got five touchdowns with a bunch of different receivers,” he said, “you’re just spreading it around, that’s what’s really fun, is when you have a whole offense coming together and five guys up front protecting the whole game, that’s what’s really fun.”

Fans haven’t seen much from the tight end room this season, with starter Olsen Patt-Henry only having 41 yards across four games this season. Briningstool had 100 yards alone in that game against the Mountaineers.

It’s handy that Klubnik has his top receiver, Antonio Williams, back, and that will be a point of emphasis going forward. However, getting the other receivers involved, like T.J. Moore and Tristan Smith, as well as tight ends like Josh Sapp, Christian Bentancur and Patt-Henry, could unlock the Clemson offense that we saw in spurts this season and in 2024.