How QB Sean Clifford rebounded and guided Penn State football to a crucial win over Indiana
Sean Clifford pumped his first while he walked toward Beaver Stadium’s victory bell, nodding his head and gazing toward the student section, before giving five hearty tugs on the rope he accidentally tore off a few weeks prior.
The Penn State quarterback needed this.
A roar went up in the south tunnel when he stepped inside, and Clifford tried to fan the excitement. With black eye paint smeared on his cheeks, he raised his arms and then pointed his index finger to the rafters.
He didn’t say anything. But he didn’t need to. After a 34-27 victory over Indiana on Saturday, the Nittany Lions were back on track and their playoff hopes remained alive. And fans wanted to celebrate just as badly as Clifford.
“Last week was a very emotional loss for us to a good Minnesota team; I took it pretty personal, and I came in last week early to make sure we were getting back on track,” Clifford said Saturday in the media room, a wry smile plastered on his face. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that today.”
The redshirt sophomore wasn’t perfect — he finished 11-of-23 passing for 179 yards and a touchdown — but he avoided mistakes outside of a second-quarter fumble and made crucial plays every time his number was called. He won’t be named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, even with his 55 rushing yards and two scores on the ground, but his importance in Saturday’s win was beyond reproach.
When Indiana drove downfield in the opening stanza to tie the game at 7-7, Clifford responded with a 75-yard drive that resulted in a field goal and reclaimed the 10-7 lead. When Indiana seized the lead, Clifford sprinted for a 38-yard score to steal the momentum. And in the final quarter, with the game on the line, Clifford engineered an 18-play, 75-yard TD drive that ate up 9:01 of clock.
Whenever the Hoosiers were on the verge of taking control of Saturday’s game, Clifford answered. His numbers may not have screamed “MVP,” but his play yelled “clutch.”
“We believe in Clifford,” tight end Nick Bowers said. “He’s been a tremendous leader.”
Added offensive tackle Will Fries: “He’s a grinder. And credit to him for being a tough, tough kid and really putting it on himself.”
Clifford flexed his leg early in Saturday’s game, as if his cramping last week might’ve followed him home to Happy Valley. James Franklin acknowledged his starting quarterback has been “a little nicked up,” but Clifford shook it off.
Teammates said he was pouring on the positivity on the sideline and during media timeouts, telling his Nittany Lions they would be just fine. He talked to players who made mistakes off to the side, and he embraced the pressure.
Every time the Hoosiers scored a touchdown, Clifford responded on the next drive with a score of his own. And on Indiana’s second field goal of the game, which cut the Penn State lead to 27-24, Clifford followed that up with one of the most memorable drives of the season — the 18-play, 75-yard possession that consumed two-thirds of the final quarter.
Clifford said he told the team at the start of that drive, “Let’s finish it on our terms and win this game the offensive way.” He ran for 10 yards on third-and-9, sprinted for 6 yards on third-and-1 and scored a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
“I was not going to be denied in the end zone,” Clifford said matter-of-factly.
Said wideout Jahan Dotson: “He was huge for us because he managed the game very well. ... It was just huge to see him lead our team to victory.”
After plowing ahead for the final touchdown, which gave Penn State a 10-point lead with 90 seconds left regulation, the stress and pressure from the past week seemed to melt away. Clifford popped up, stuck his arms in the air and motioned for the crowd to grow louder.
Cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields knew how much this game meant to him. As his roommate, Castro-Fields said he couldn’t wait to get home to give his quarterback a hug. (And maybe cook him something — because Clifford earned it.) Journey Brown, who started at running back, also inserted himself into a reporter scrum with Clifford and begged his quarterback to refer to him as “cute.”
“He’s also cute,” Clifford said, smiling and shaking his head.
If any melancholy was left over from Minneapolis, it dissipated in the locker room Saturday. For the first time since 2016, the Nittany Lions didn’t watch one loss lead to a second straight loss. Clifford rebounded, and the Nittany Lions rebounded — setting up what is essentially a play-in game for the Big Ten championship next weekend against Ohio State.
So, conference honors or not, Clifford and the offense had plenty to smile about Saturday.
“It might not show up in the stat categories,” Brown said, referring to his quarterback, “but he definitely shows up in boosting the morale and keeping everybody going.
“He’s the leader of our offense.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 6:50 PM.
