How backup QB Will Levis helped spark Penn State’s comeback effort against Ohio State
With less than 11 minutes left in the third quarter of Penn State’s 28-17 loss to Ohio State, Sean Clifford took a snap that he bobbled. The redshirt sophomore quarterback recovered, and got rid of the ball to an open Nick Bowers for a 12-yard gain. Clifford took a big hit from a Buckeye defender as he released the pass, crumbling to the ground in a heap, where he laid for several minutes until he was helped off the field.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth quickly jogged to Clifford’s side and grabbed the quarterback’s head, speaking to Clifford as he limped off the field.
“I said, ‘I love you and I’m going to be with you throughout this whole thing,’” Freiermuth said after the game. “I told him I love him.”
Clifford’s exit could have easily sent the Nittany Lions into a tailspin. The redshirt sophomore is beloved by his teammates and instills confidence in them when he’s on the field. His exit when the team was down 21-0 could have been the final nail in a coffin that was slowly closing.
Instead, down 21-0, backup quarterback Will Levis provided a jolt of energy into a team that was struggling to score and helped cut the lead to 21-17.
“Will’s a great quarterback,” Freiermuth said. “He practices like he’s the starter every week and he did a great job of coming in and handling this environment.”
Even though he was sidelined, Clifford still found ways to influence the game and maintain his role Penn State’s leaders. For Levis, Clifford played a crucial role in helping him keep calm and steady throughout the game, giving him advice each time he came back to the sideline.
“He was a leader like he always is,” Levis said. “He’s gone through situations like this throughout the whole season so he knows what my thought process is. ... It was nice to have him in my ear, guiding me through what feelings I was having and what I was seeing. It was great support from him.”
Levis finished the game with unremarkable numbers, completing 6-of-11 passes for 57 yards and an interception while running for 34 yards and a touchdown on 19 rushing attempts, but made a noticeable positive impact. The Nittany Lions scored 17 points with Levis at the helm — bringing Penn State within four points of the Buckeyes — although 10 of those points came on short fields thanks to Ohio State turnovers.
However, the biggest impact Levis’ presence brought to the game was his ability to open up holes in the defense for running back Journey Brown. Brown ran for 40 yards on six attempts with Levis in the game, compared to 24 yards on five attempts with Clifford. Levis’ rushing ability forced the Buckeyes to take him into account in the rushing game.
“I think (Levis) was a little bit stronger running,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “They kind of leaned on some of those quarterback runs and they were kind of pounding it in there and got a little rhythm.”
With the 6-foot-3 Levis running balls downfield, Brown said the defense suddenly had a new target to focus on, freeing up the rest of the offense. And when Levis got going, everyone got going.
“He made his own stuff shake out by the way he played,” Brown said. “He started seeing holes and when he got downhill they started focusing on him and it opened up for us.”
The backup quarterback’s performance didn’t come without mistakes. He threw an interception, which he took responsibility for, and didn’t inflect his voice enough in his cadence, making it hard for his linemen to hear the snap count. The latter issue caused serious problems for Penn State late in the game, with several snap issues that caused fumbles and penalties in the fourth quarter. Penn State head coach James Franklin said after the game that the linemen were essentially guessing the cadence.
Guard Mike Miranda said the linemen discussed the issue with Levis on the sideline, and that their faith in him never wavered.
“Will did great,” Miranda said. “I’m really proud of him. There was no point where we had any doubt in Will. We knew what he’s capable of from the second he went in. There was never a point when Sean went down that I thought Will couldn’t get the job done.”
With the confidence of his teammates behind him, Levis is looking to learn from this experience and figure out how he can improve in the future.
“I’m going to go right to the tape and learn from it,” he said. “It’s going to make me a much better player and a much better person. Going through the tape is going to make me understand why I made certain reads and just help me (in the) future.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 8:48 PM.
