Clemson Coaches Have No Regret Over Any Decisions Regarding Quarterback Position

Cade Klubnik entered in the first quarter after starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei led the Tigers on two consecutive three-and-outs and immediately provided a lift to an offense that had seen its share of struggles in recent weeks.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— The Cade Klubnik era officially began in Saturday's ACC Championship Game.

The true freshman entered in the first quarter after starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei led the Tigers on two consecutive three-and-outs and immediately provided a lift to an offense that had seen its share of struggles in recent weeks. 

Getting him into the game early was something that was planned ahead of time, and the result was a 39-10 win over North Carolina giving Clemson its seventh conference championship in the past eight seasons.

"We talked about it being the third or fourth series going into it, so it was definitely planned," offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. "Again just us giving Cade the opportunity and obviously he took advantage of it."

Trailing 7-0, Klubnik came in and instantly led the Tigers on a 9-play, 71-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown pass to Davis Allen. The offense was crisp and the passing game was efficient, as Klubnik finished the night 20-of-24 for 279 yards, with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown.

"It brought a spark, for sure," Streeter said. "He brought energy. Guys and did a great job making plays around him, and he did a great job of being ready."

It might have been the best Klubnik has looked since his debut in the season opener against Georgia Tech, when the freshman connected on all four of his passes, leading the offense on a late scoring drive in mop-up duty.

Klubnik also provided a spark for the Tigers in the 27-21 win over Syracuse back on October 22. The freshman played most of the second half after coming on in relief of a struggling Uiagalelei, who had committed three turnovers. However, Klubnik attempted just four passes, as Clemson leaned heavily on the running game.

"When we recruited Cade, we knew what we were getting, as far as leadership, energy, positive energy, all day long. That's who he was," Streeter said. "And so he was a joy to recruit and it shows every time you see him on the field. I mean, he's a guy that just really, really does a good job of bringing that energy and guys rally around that. Just fun to watch him out there in that light tonight and especially in a situation like this in a championship game."

Over the past few weeks, Uiagalelei's play has been up and down, leading to pleas from the fan base to give Klubnik a shot. Despite how it's played out, Streeter insists the coaches have no regrets about how they have managed the situation throughout the season.

"As I've said in the past, we will never... I will never regret anything that we've decided on doing with the quarterback position," Streeter said. "No question about it."

"As coaches, we feel we feel great about exactly how we've handled every situation. No matter what the situation is, no matter what the end result was. That's how we feel."

The win over the Tar Heels means Clemson is expected to earn a berth in the Orange Bowl and Streeter fully expects the entire offense to rally behind the freshman as he gets set to make his first career start.  

"He's gonna have a ton of confidence," Streeter said. "And I think our offense is going to have a ton of confidence and they're going to rally around that. He's a guy that has shown to be ready when he needs to be ready. So having an opportunity to kind of have a lot of preparation time leading up to the game will be really really good for him as a young player."

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