Clemson QB Cade Klubnik 'limited' in practice with ankle injury ahead of SMU game

With a key ACC game against SMU looming this weekend, Clemson may be without starting quarterback Cade Klubnik. After rolling his ankle late in last week's win over Boston College, coach Dabo Swinney labeled Klubnik as "hour-to-hour."

Speaking Wednesday night with reporters, Swinney said Klubnik has been "limited" in practice. The Tigers quarterback has been dealing with soreness all week, but Swinney said Klubnik has made good progress.

"Just been limited," Swinney said of Klubnik's status. "We're taking our time with him. Like I said yesterday, he's gone from day-to-day to hour-to-hour. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be minute-to-minute. … Literally getting better every hour. Just being smart with him, and he's been doing what he needed to do."

Klubnik tweaked his ankle in the second half of the Tigers' 41-10 win over the Eagles, and Swinney said the team elected to hold him out at that point. After the game, Swinney said Klubnik was already dealing with nagging soreness on that ankle.

"He'd been nursing a little bit of a sore ankle anyway," Swinney said. "You've probably seen it taped up."

With so much uncertainty surrounding Klubnik's status for this game, the spread has shifted quite a bit toward the Mustangs. The Tigers opened as 10-point favorites, but that line dropped to 5.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

After a slow start to the season, Klubnik led Clemson to consecutive wins over North Carolina and Boston College. In those two games, he threw for a combined 534 yards and five touchdowns.

Clemson will offer a more concrete update on Klubnik's status Thursday night when the first ACC availability report of the week gets released.

If Klubnik is unable to play against Boston College, redshirt sophomore Christopher Vizzina would get the start. A four-star recruit in the 2023 signing class, Vizzina has thrown for 227 yards and one interception on 26-of-48 passing in his career.