When Clemson travels to Austin to play Texas in the College Football Playoff on Saturday afternoon, it will be a bit of a homecoming for the Tigers’ quarterback. Cade Klubnik grew up in Austin, Texas, and he will be returning to play football in the area for the first time since leaving to attend Clemson.

As a member of the ACC, Clemson doesn’t typically travel to Texas for games, so Klubnik may not have expected to play close to where he grew up in college. But not only is he getting a chance to return to his hometown, he does so in the most important game of the season for either team.

While the 21-year-old junior is trying keep his focus on beating Texas, he did mention the excitement in playing in his hometown again.

“Obviously I’ve had quite a few people reach out to me in the last week and a half,” Klubnik said, via On3. “I think like last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, I just kind of embraced it and just kind of got to sit there and enjoy the feeling of, ‘Hey, I’m getting to go home.’ You know, the guys I’m getting to be playing, the people that are going to be there, and just kind of enjoyed that for one or two days.”

Ahead of Clemson’s showdown against Texas in Austin, here is a breakdown of Klubnik’s history growing up in Austin, Texas.

MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS:

Cade Klubnik high school

Before starring at Clemson, Klubnik attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, which is just 20 minutes away from the University of Texas’ campus. If that high school sounds familiar, it’s because Westlake High School has many famous alumni athletes that graduated over the years.

Among famous Westlake graduates include Drew Brees, Nick Foles, Justin Tucker and Sam Ehlinger, the latter two players stayed close to home by attending Texas in college. 

Additionally, in 2020, Klubnik helped lead Westlake to the state title, and he did so by beating then-Southlake Carroll quarterback Quinn Ewers in the finals. On Saturday, Klubnik and Ewers will meet for the first time since that game in January of 2021.

Cade Klubnik high school stats

Klubnik was a star in high school, which led to him becoming a five-star recruit in the class of 2022. According to 247 Sports, Klubnik was ranked No. 13 in the country, and No. 2 among quarterbacks, when he chose to attend Clemson for college. 

Cade Klubnik college stats

Klubnik took over as Clemson’s starter in 2023, and after an unspectacular first season, he improved his play in his second as a starter this year.

AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) – Jacqueline Mendoza-Ramirez, 21, of Austin, is charged with capital murder in the death of her 6-week-old infant son.

On Nov. 27, Austin police say officers responded to the Dell Children’s Medical Center, located at 4900 Mueller Boulevard, for a dead person call.

The parents of a 6-week-old infant had taken their baby to the hospital as he was not breathing, police say.

Hospital staff attempted life-saving measures on the infant but were unsuccessful, and the infant was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to police.

Additional authorities responded to process the scene, and their initial investigation showed the infant had several trauma injuries on his body, police say.

Police say CPS was notified and the parents of the infant were interviewed.

On Dec. 18, an arrest warrant for capital murder was issued for Mendoza-Ramirez in the death of the infant. She was arrested the same day, according to police.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Austin police at 512-974-8477.

Copyright 2024 KWTX. All rights reserved.

What’s New

Joe Rogan’s Texas home has dropped a whopping 20 percent in value as the Austin housing market experiences a rapid downturn.

Rogan originally purchased the home for $14.4 million in 2020, right when Austin was gaining ground as one of the top pandemic era housing markets.

Why It Matters

Many Americans fled to Austin from high-cost areas in New York and California while looking for lower home prices and cost of living. And in the age of remote work and coronavirus shutdowns, many also moved to be in a place with Texas’ minimal social distancing restrictions.

What To Know

Rogan originally moved from California to the Austin property in 2020 after securing a $100 million deal with Spotify.

But now, just four years later, Redfin values the home at just $10.8 million.

Rogan’s home has eight bedrooms and nearly 11,000 square feet. It also boasts a lakeside view, but even the most luxurious estates aren’t immune from Austin’s real estate market changes.

In November, data showed Austin home listings were over 10,000, compared to just 7,000 during the pandemic.

Texas has long been on a population upswing, growing by more than 9 million residents between 2000 and 2022. And the pandemic saw an even larger boost in new people seeking out the state’s job market, warm weather and cheap cost of living.

In 2022 alone, the Lone Star State’s population climbed by 470,708 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Initially, when so many people moved in the pandemic, house prices skyrocketed upwards, as the market was not able to keep up with the surge in demand.

To fix that, Texas home suppliers quickly ramped up construction, but now the housing market is experiencing the opposite problem—too much supply and too little demand, causing prices to trend down.

Still, Austin’s home prices are up 6.8 percent year over year, according to Redfin. That brought a median sale price of $550,000 in November.

What People Are Saying

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek:

“Austin was one of the hottest real estate markets in the country before the pandemic, and relocating during that stretch of time only increased demand in a city that had fewer statewide health-related restrictions than its contemporaries did. With the pandemic over and remote work becoming for many jobs a thing of the past, there’s less demand, which is incredibly problematic for a city that had been ramping up in creating more housing units to meet a surging market.”

“Texas housing supply has spiked to [its] highest level since at least 2017,” Nick Gerli, CEO of real estate data platform Reventure App, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Active listings are up 25 percent YoY, and a massive 263 percent from the pandemic low. Texas is no longer in an inventory shortage. And is now oversupplied.”

“2020-21 was near the peak of the real estate market in many parts of the country,” title and escrow expert Alan Chang told Newsweek. “During this time, there was so much competition for desirable properties that valuations were increasing at an unsustainable rate. It’s normal for many markets to see some leveling or more substantial corrections after that historic time period.”

“Rising interest rates are the main culprit behind lower housing values,” Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek. “Housing prices surged after the pandemic as inflation rose, creating a disconnect between prices and underlying fundamentals. Now, prices are correcting downward, moving back toward equilibrium.”

What’s Next

As Austin sees a surge in new homes becoming available, there will inevitably be less demand in the once thriving housing market.

“It’s a difficult spot to be in, and even homes owned by some of Austin’s wealthiest residents are finding their property down substantially in value from where it was a few short years ago,” Beene said.

Chang said 2025 will likely bring more price correction in the Austin market after the rapid increase seen in the last few years.

“Real estate should be a long-term investment and not a short-term roller coaster that we experienced in the recent past,” Chang said.