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In Mario Kart, the concept is simple but revealing: race against your best version, the “ghost,” and see if you can beat it. That’s precisely how Cade Klubnik views his journey. Except for the Clemson quarterback entering his senior season, the ghost isn’t on a virtual track. It’s in the film room, the practice field, the red zone under the lights on Saturdays. And it wears No. 2 in orange and white.
“People talk about trying to outwork everybody else,” Klubnik said in a recent interview. “But I’m just trying to outwork yesterday’s me. I’m trying to outwork last year’s me.”
And that’s the key. Because last year’s Cade Klubnik was really good.
“People talk about trying to outwork everybody else, but I’m just trying to outwork yesterday’s me. I’m trying to outwork last year’s me.”
- Cade Klubnik
After a rocky sophomore season full of frustration, turnovers, and hard lessons, Klubnik bounced back in 2024 with a breakout campaign that reestablished Clemson as a national power and vaulted him into elite quarterback territory. He finished with 3,639 yards passing, 36 touchdowns, and only six interceptions, earning first-team All-ACC honors and leading the Tigers to a 10-win season that reenergized the program under Dabo Swinney.
But Klubnik isn’t looking around. He’s looking back. He’s racing that ghost version of himself from 2024, determined to beat it.
“Last year, I feel like I did that. I outworked the sophomore year version of myself,” Klubnik said. “Now going into this year, I want to outwork last year’s me, where I took a big step. I want to go be even better this year and go be the player I know I can be.”
When Klubnik took over the starting role full-time in 2023, expectations were sky-high. A former five-star recruit out of Austin, Texas, he was touted as the next in Clemson’s quarterback lineage after Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. Instead, like his predecessor, D.J. Uiagalelei, Klubnik stumbled through an inconsistent season marred by red-zone turnovers, miscommunications, and missed opportunities.
“My sophomore year was tough,” the 6’2, 205-pound quarterback admitted. “I didn’t play very well. I made a lot of crucial mistakes that put our team in some bad spots.”
© Susan Lloyd/Clemson Sports Talk
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns on 119 carries in 2024.
But that season became the ignition point. Klubnik went back to the basics. He overhauled his mechanics, pored over game tape, and dove deeper into offensive coordinator Garrett Riley’s system. Most importantly, he matured.
“I just put my head down and went to work,” he said.
That work paid off in a big way in 2024. Clemson’s offense became one of the most balanced and explosive units in the ACC. The Tigers averaged nearly 35 points per game and ranked in the top 10 nationally in red zone efficiency—a far cry from the 2023 version that so often sputtered.
“I think that for the first time since I've been here, we're not a young team,” Klubnik said. “We're very veteran all around, especially up front in the wide receiver room, two bright stars, rising sophomores that have played a lot this past year. I think more than anything, we're just trying to take another step.”
Clemson’s 2024 leap coincided with Klubnik’s emergence as one of the most refined passers in college football. He showed improved poise in the pocket, better decision-making under pressure, and an ability to stretch the field vertically, all without losing the mobility that made him dangerous outside the pocket.
“It’s all about Cade Klubnik,” said ACC Network analyst and former Clemson offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain. “I think this guy has a chance to be the best quarterback in the entire country.”
Greg McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback and now ESPN analyst, was even more impressed with Klubnik’s resilience.
“I don’t just believe in his ability, I believe in his mental toughness,” McElroy said. “When you are the golden goose and you get criticized and you live to tell the tale, put your head down and then come back in ‘24 and you’re one of the best players in the country. That’s a guy who I want on my team.”
“I think this guy has a chance to be the best quarterback in the entire country.”
- ACC Network Analyst Eric Mac Lain
And now, with the NFL looming, Klubnik isn’t just climbing draft boards; he’s sitting at the top. ESPN’s Matt Miller recently projected Klubnik as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, citing his “gutsy performance” at Texas in the CFB Playoff.
Still, Klubnik isn’t talking about the NFL. Not yet. He’s focused on 2025 and making Clemson’s offense “elite.”
“I think that we were really good last year, but we want to be an elite offense,” he said. “We took a big step last year from ‘23 to ‘24 in terms of explosive plays, touchdowns, and just effectiveness, especially in the red zone—but I think just wanting to be elite.”
There’s a quiet obsession with Klubnik’s process. Not just with winning games or impressing scouts, but with self-mastery—shaving tenths of a second off his mental read time, adding inches to his deep ball placement, pushing just a little harder than he did the day before.
That’s where Mario Kart comes in. Klubnik isn’t chasing awards, rivals, or headlines. He’s chasing himself—the ghost that loops back around every rep, every throw, every moment in the weight room.
For Klubnik, the mission isn’t catching up anymore—it’s seeing how far he can leave the old version of himself behind
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