Depth chart breakdown: Where Penn State football stands at quarterback in 2020
No position can impact Penn State football’s upside in 2020 like quarterback. The Nittany Lions were a QB away from a potential playoff berth in 2019, and that’s likely to hold true this season.
Let’s take a look at where the position stands heading into the 2020 season.
Projected starter
Redshirt junior Sean Clifford
There isn’t a single player on Penn State’s roster that can sway the team’s final record like Clifford can. The junior quarterback had a rocky first season as a starter in 2019 and will need to take a step forward if the Nittany Lions want to make the College Football Playoff.
Clifford doesn’t need to be a Heisman-level quarterback — although that wouldn’t hurt — but he needs to prove he can lead the team to wins when the defense isn’t at its best. He didn’t show he was capable of that last season, and more often than not he was bailed out by the team’s rushing attack and defense. His best performances came against weak opponents or in blowout victories.
Even in the 53-39 Cotton Bowl win over Memphis, Clifford wasn’t stellar. He completed 11-of-20 passes for 133 yards with the majority of the team’s offense coming on 36 carries for 352 yards by the trio of Journey Brown, Noah Cain and Ricky Slade.
Clifford’s improvements will have to come through his footwork and decision-making.
He often threw with his feet poorly positioned, limiting his arm strength and throwing off his accuracy. The quarterback frequently relied heavily on his upper body to make throws with the majority of his power coming from his arm. He’ll need to clean up his footwork in order to generate strength from his base and unlock an extra level of arm strength.
An even base with more aligned footwork will also make it easier for him to throw with accuracy, rather than putting himself in a position where his lower body is facing one direction and his upper body is facing another, which caused his throws to come out sporadically.
Decision-making improvements should come naturally as Clifford moves into his second year as a starter. Last season he didn’t work through his progressions on offense and showed signs of panic if his first or second option wasn’t open. Now that he has a year under his belt, Clifford should be calmer and less frantic working through his reads.
Working in the redshirt junior’s favor is that his new quarterback coach has proven he can develop quarterbacks or — at the very least — has put them in a position to succeed.
New offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca helped Tanner Morgan have a career year last season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Morgan completed 66% of his 318 passes last season, while Clifford completed 59.2% of his 319 attempts for the Nittany Lions. More importantly, Morgan’s passing performance led to Minnesota’s 31-26 upset victory over Penn State in November last season.
Clifford has to improve enough to lead the Nittany Lions to wins — like Morgan did under Ciarrocca — rather than banking on his defense or running game to usher the team to victory.
Key backup
Redshirt sophomore Will Levis
Levis had an opportunity to solidify himself as the team’s backup quarterback — and even as a legitimate threat to become the starter — when Clifford left the game against Ohio State with an injury. He started the following week against Rutgers in an offense that looked almost nothing like the one the Nittany Lions ran for most of the season.
They finished the game with only 15 passing attempts and 46 rushing attempts, including 17 by Levis. The full game against the Scarlet Knights and the partial game against the Buckeyes are the two best evaluation opportunities of Levis available, and neither should inspire confidence that he can lead a pass-heavy attack or an offense that doesn’t run the quarterback often.
The sophomore has remarkable arm strength — along with power and athleticism as a runner — but is raw as a passer.
His insertion into the Ohio State game sparked the offense and gave the Nittany Lions their only real offensive momentum of the matchup, but that can largely be attributed to the drastic change in offensive style with Levis at quarterback. Penn State went to its run-heavy attack to take pressure off the quarterback and put him in position to succeed in a difficult situation.
That kind of offense is unlikely to make an appearance with Ciarrocca making the game plan and calling the plays. Penn State is moving more toward a passing offense that relies more on run-pass option (RPO) plays in the running game than true zone read plays that involve the quarterback potentially taking off with the ball. The RPO attack enables the quarterback to hand the ball off or pull the ball out and make a quick pass attempt based on his read of the defense. Levis would be better suited in a zone read offense where the alternative to the hand-off is pulling the ball out and taking off as a runner. He struggled to make plays in the passing game in his late-season appearances in 2019 but did show off his powerful arm. Levis’ upside is undeniable but he’ll need to make drastic improvements in his game to get there.
While Clifford needs refinement to his game, Levis will have to take several steps forward as a passer to show he’s the answer at QB in Ciarrocca’s offense when the current starter finishes his career.
Freshman to watch
Redshirt freshman Ta’Quan Roberson
Roberson is the only redshirt freshman quarterback on the roster after classmate Michael Johnson Jr. reportedly entered the transfer portal earlier this month. He gets the nod here over incoming freshman Micah Bowens because he’s seen game experience and has spent over a year on campus.
The redshirt freshman could potentially make a move when the Nittany Lions return to campus because of his projected fit in Ciarrocca’s offense. Roberson is much more of a threat with his arm than his legs, and frequently used his legs to create time and space to pass rather than to take off and run when he was in high school.
He’s not the same level of athlete as Clifford or Levis, but he could be the best passer of the group. His passing ability could open the door to the backup job if Levis is unable to take a step forward in that regard.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Roberson is ultimately Clifford’s successor when the redshirt junior leaves his post.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
