Cade Klubnik names his favorite moment from ACC title win

True freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik took over for DJ Uiagalelei in the third series of Clemson‘s ACC Championship matchup against North Carolina and didn’t look back, as he had an excellent performance that led the Tigers to a 39-10 victory. Klubnik was efficient, completing 83% of his passes for 279 yards and a touchdown in the air, and added 30 yards on the ground and 1 rushing touchdown to his day as well.

Klubnik also had 19 receiving yards in the ballgame, catching a pass from running back Phil Mafah on a trick play, which came up when he was asked what his favorite moment of the game was.

“I had told him (Dabo Swinney) on the way, I think it was at the hotel today, that I wanted the throw back with Phil, and I was like let’s do it early,” Klubnik said. “That was pretty fun, I mean I wish we would’ve scored on it, but that was definitely pretty fun.”

Another fun play for Klubnik was his 68-yard deep pass to wide receiver Cole Turner, where Klubnik showed off his arm strength and Turner showed off his speed and agility.

“But I really loved to see Cole Turner kind of show out tonight, that was really awesome. Dude’s just kind of a silent worker, he’s more of a quiet guy but also just a great dude. But he can fly, he can run and he catches the ball,” Klubnik said.

Turner is the brother to Clemson alumni Nolan Turner, who played safety for the Tigers and was recently upgraded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ active roster. Like his brother Cole started off his career as a defensive player, but recently made the switch to wide receiver, which looks like the right move as he ended the game Saturday as the Tiger’s leading receiver with three catches for 101 yards.

“Like coach Swinney was saying, he’s still new to receiver, he’s only played one year of football (at wide receiver) … he’s just an athlete and he went and showed what he can do tonight and I’m excited to see what he can do,” Klubnik said.

The true freshman’s night was clearly filled with good moments, but he finally settled on his favorite, a special moment on his one-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter of the game.

“I think my favorite moment was probably scoring the first touchdown and I actually just kind of saw my family in the stands out of nowhere,” Klubnik said. “I just found them and that was a pretty cool moment for me.”