Following Clemson’s Week 1 loss to LSU, Cade Klubnik’s betting odds to win the Heisman Trophy took an expected plummet.
The Clemson QB was +900 heading into the season opener and third on BetMGM's odds list. He fell to +1600 at BetMGM after the weekend games.
Against a talented LSU defense, Klubnik completed just 50 percent of his 38 passing attempts. He threw for 230 yards, a pedestrian 6.1 yards per attempt, and no touchdowns with one interception.
Klubnik saw plenty of pressure much of the night, and he didn’t add anything in the run game. His performance wasn’t an inspiration to the third-year starter’s preseason Heisman hype.
Other candidates
One of the keys to being the first-ever Tiger to win college football’s most prestigious individual award was having others struggle. He did get some help in that department as Arch Manning, the +600 preseason favorite, also fell to +1600 after the Texas QB had a dreadful performance at Ohio State.
Speaking of the Buckeyes, Jeremiah Smith didn’t do much in a defensive struggle to move up in odds, falling from +1000 to +1500.
The biggest movers were SEC quarterbacks. Klubnik’s opponent, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, is now the Heisman favorite at +650 after going to Death Valley and leading his team to a 17-10 victory. He completed 73.7% of his passes against a stout Clemson defense and threw for 232 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.
The QB for Clemson’s rival shot up as well. LaNorris Sellers went from +1400 to +700. He was already a popular bet and has now seen 8.3% of the tickets at BetMGM, despite only having 209 passing yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts in a 24-11 win over Virginia Tech. He did rush for a score in the contest.
Georgia's Gunnar Stockton was +2000 but blew right past Klubnik at +1200 after Week 1.
Week 1 verdict
The Clemson QB isn’t completely out of the running. There are 11 regular-season games left after all. But LSU was the best team he’ll face for several weeks, maybe all season. Klubnik needed a strong performance and could’ve potentially vaulted himself to the top, like Nussmeier did, had the Clemson starter been able to give his team a chance late.
It’s going to take some big-time stats and others falling off for Klubnik to see an odds boost and regain popularity in the Heisman race. It's not looking good.