Clemson coach Dabo Swinney expects starting quarterback Cade Klubnik to play when the Tigers face visiting SMU in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup on Saturday.
Klubnik sprained an ankle in the third quarter of Clemson’s 41-10 victory against Boston College last weekend. The injury caused Klubnik to miss the remainder of the game. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown with one interception against the Eagles, and he also ran the ball nine times for 48 yards and a TD.
“He was just over with the trainers last night,” Swinney said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “He’s sore, but he’ll be a little better each day and should be hopefully ready to go.”
Klubnik has thrown for 1,530 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He has been intercepted five times.
Both Clemson (3-3, 2-2 ACC) and SMU (4-2, 2-0) will be trying to extend two-game winning streaks.
“They did like we did,” Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee said. “They went into the bye week and kind of figured out what they needed to this year, and they’ve played really well the last two weeks out of the bye week. They’re getting right at the right time for us to be coming to town.”
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings has a 14-5 record as a starter and has passed for at least two touchdowns in 13 of his last 17 games.
“Offensively, this is by far the most dynamic quarterback we’ve played,” Swinney said. “He’s a problem.”
SMU has won 19 consecutive conference regular-season games, nine in the American Athletic Conference and 10 in the ACC.
“I’m sure that’s never been done before,” Lashlee said. “There’s no way a team has ever entered a conference before and won their first 10 games in the regular season.
“It doesn’t mean we’ve got anywhere near where we want to go, but I think it shows we belong here. We belong at this level.”
