Energetic leader and former Texas Gatorade Player of the Year who flashed his ability late in his freshman campaign in 2022 … enters 2023 having completed 61-of-100 career passes for 697 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in 224 snaps over 10 games (one start) … also rushed 42 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2022.
2022: Completed 61-of-100 passes for 697 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in 224 snaps over 10 games (one start) … also rushed 42 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns on the year … All-ACC Academic Team selection … made collegiate debut at Georgia Tech, engineering a 10-play, 66-yard drive on which he completed 4-of-6 passes for 49 yards and a three-yard touchdown pass to Will Taylor … went 1-for-4 vs. Furman .. completed 2-of-5 passes for 19 yards and rushed twice for seven yards vs. Louisiana Tech … saw action at Boston College, rushing once … entered in the third quarter vs. No. 14 Syracuse and completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards and rushing six times for 15 yards as he became the first backup quarterback to engineer a fourth-quarter comeback win for Clemson since 2018 (Chase Brice vs. Syracuse) … played two snaps in reserve at Notre Dame … rushed once for 13 yards vs. Louisville … completed 2-of-2 passes for 13 yards and rushed twice for 20 yards vs. Miami (Fla.) … earned ACC Championship Game MVP honors against No. 24 North Carolina after completing 20-of-24 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown, rushing seven times for 30 yards with a rushing touchdown and recording a 19-yard reception … became only the third freshman to be named ACC Championship Game MVP, joining Florida State’s Jameis Winston (2013) and Dalvin Cook (2014) … completed 30-of-54 passes for 320 yards and rushed 20 times for 51 yards with a touchdown in the Orange Bowl vs. No. 6 Tennessee, becoming the first Clemson quarterback since the modernization of Clemson’s quarterback position in 1953 to make his first career start in a postseason game and also becoming the first Clemson quarterback to make his first career start against an AP Top 6 opponent since his offensive coordinator, Brandon Streeter, did so against No. 5 Florida State in 1997 … recorded Clemson’s fifth consecutive 300-yard passing game in games started by true freshmen, dating to 2018.
Before Clemson: Ranked as the top quarterback in the nation by Sports Illustrated, PrepStar, and Rivals.com … ranked as second-best quarterback by 247Sports and third by ESPN.com … two-time USA Today Offensive Player of the Year (2020 and 2021) … Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas and was named as one of three finalists for National Gatorade Player of the Year for 2021 … named MVP of the Elite 11 Camp in the summer of 2021 … guided Westlake High School in Austin, Texas to three consecutive state championships in 2019, 2020 and 2021, including the final two years as the starter … became the first quarterback to go undefeated as a starter while winning back-to-back state titles in Texas’ highest classification since Allen’s Kyler Murray … threw two touchdown passes in the All-American Bowl and was named as the organization’s National High School Player of the Year … ranked as the No. 3 overall player in the nation by Rivals.com and best player in Texas and best pro-style quarterback nationally … ranked as the No. 13 player in the nation by 247Sports, which also listed him as the second-best quarterback and third-best player in Texas … five-star quarterback according to Rivals.com, 247Sports and PrepStar … rated No. 24 overall in the nation by PrepStar, which listed him as the sixth-best player in Texas … ESPN.com ranked him as the nation’s No. 66 overall player and third-best quarterback … rated by On3 Sports as the nation’s No. 36 overall prospect, the nation’s fourth-best quarterback and the ninth-best prospect in Texas … played in 38 career games (including 37 Westlake wins), including a 27-0 mark as a starter his last two years … completed 481-of-687 (70.0 percent) career passes for 7,426 yards and 86 touchdowns vs. just seven interceptions, adding 197 carries for 1,319 rushing yards (6.7 avg.) and 31 touchdowns … had 8,745 career yards of total offense on 884 plays (9.9 yards per play) … accounted for 117 touchdowns — 86 passing and 31 rushing … came off the bench as a sophomore when he completed 53-of-69 passes (76.8) for 680 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception … as a junior, completed 239-of-354 passes (67.5) for 3,495 yards, 35 touchdowns and just three interceptions … also had 583 yards rushing in 98 attempts for a 5.9-yard average and 15 touchdowns … had standout games against Smithson Valley, when he completed 25-of-29 passes for 345 yards and four scores, and against San Marcos, when he rushed for four touchdowns … team had a 14-0 record and won the state title in 2020 against Southlake Carroll and highly rated quarterback Quinn Ewers (now at Texas by way of Ohio State) … as a senior in 2021, completed 189-of-265 (71.3) passes for 3,251 yards and 43 touchdowns against just three interceptions as the Chaps finished the year 16-0 … also rushed 70 times for 465 yards and 12 scores … missed three games with an injury … threw six touchdowns passes in a game twice as a senior and had 300-yard passing games against Trinity (322), Mansfield Summit (375) and in the state semifinals against Katy (310) … hit 20-of-27 passes for 310 yards and five touchdowns in that semifinal vs. Katy … threw for four touchdowns in state championship win against Denton Guyer … coached by Todd Dodge at Westlake High School, the same high school program that produced Super Bowl MVPs Drew Brees and Nick Foles … committed to Clemson on March 2, 2021 … enrolled at Clemson in January 2022.
Personal: Pre-business major … his brother, Reed, played wide receiver at Yale … last name pronounced “CLUB-nick” … born Oct. 10, 2003.
