Nittany Lions reaffirm faith in senior QB Sean Clifford as '21 season nears
Penn State head coach James Franklin hasn’t lost his faith in fifth-year senior quarterback Sean Clifford. Nor have Clifford’s teammates.
Joining the Big Ten Network Thursday afternoon at the conference’s annual media days, held this year at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the contingent of Nittany Lion representatives on hand made their positions known.
Coming off a difficult 2020 season in which he completed 152 of 251 passes for 1,883 yards and 16 touchdowns, but was responsible for nine interceptions and a series of costly fumbles, Clifford’s respect within the program has not changed.
“It's about learning from the experience,” Franklin said on the BTN. “Sean's a very mature guy. He's been through a number of systems now. He's had a lot of success. At this time last year, people forget, we were talking about Sean as maybe one of the better quarterbacks in college football and arguably the best quarterback in the Big Ten or part of that conversation at least. He's still that guy. I’m a huge believer in Sean.”
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If anything, that notion has only been strengthened this offseason, Clifford’s teammates explained.
Though ranked 10th in the Big Ten by Pro Football Focus among all of the conference’s starting quarterbacks, and No. 88 nationally, Clifford’s repeated demonstration of his work ethic has made an impression on senior receiver Jahan Dotson.
“Sean is hungry. We can tell that by the way he works every single day. He comes into work, he's hungry, he's looking for any way, any possible way, to just get better at his craft,” Dotson said. “Working with him, going over plays, whether it's throwing with each other one-on-one, whatever it is, he goes at it hard.
“He works like a champion. That's one thing I admire about him. His work ethic is truly unmatched.”
Squaring off against Clifford this summer from the other side of the field, fifth-year senior cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields echoed the sentiment.
In an offseason that has seen Clifford traverse the country to work with some of the top quarterback gurus, most recently spending time at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana, the effort has paid dividends both on and off the field, Castro-Fields said.
“I think he's just playing with extreme confidence right now. His leadership is phenomenal. He's a great leader and he motivates even me as a fifth-year guy,” Castro-Fields said. “I'm excited to see him in the fall.”
So too is Franklin, who made certain to stress that the environment surrounding Clifford has changed dramatically as the 2021 season quickly approaches.
Complemented by a proven commodity in Dotson, named one of the Big Ten’s 10 preseason players to watch Thursday, Clifford also has an arsenal of weapons from which to utilize on the Nittany Lion offense being directed by new coordinator Mike Yurcich this season.
“Sean's going to have a big year for us this year; that’s Sean, and that’s also our wide receivers,” Franklin said. “We started two true freshmen wide receivers last year; those guys are more experienced, and as you know, it's more than a quarterback. We're talented at the running back position, as talented as probably any running back room in the country, and the same thing at the tight end position, and our wideouts I think are gonna surprise some people.”
The Nittany Lions open the 2021 season on Sept. 4 when they travel to Wisconsin to face the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. The game is set for a noon kick and will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
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