Penn State backup QB Will Levis will be ‘mixing’ in more in games, James Franklin says
Following Penn State’s loss to Maryland on Saturday, many raised questions about why none of the Nittany Lions’ backup quarterbacks saw any action down the stretch.
Redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford struggled throughout the game — finishing 27-57 passing for 340 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble — and the contest was all but decided early in the third quarter. Still, there was no sighting of redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Levis, redshirt freshman quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson or Penn State’s other backups.
That won’t be the case for the rest of the season, Penn State head coach James Franklin told reporters on a Zoom conference call Tuesday.
No, Franklin didn’t mention benching Clifford. But he did say that “mixing” Levis in on certain drives would prevent Clifford — who’s rushed 52 times in the Nittany Lions’ first three games — from taking too many hits, while also aiding in Levis’ development.
“We need to get Will involved in a lot of different ways,” Franklin said. “To the points that were brought up earlier ... to help Sean out and also to continue investing in Will. Will’s earned that. Will has earned that over his time here, and obviously, we’ve used him in the past. We need to do that. And I think you’ll see that.”
Through three games this season, Clifford has completed just 69 of 122 pass attempts — a 56.5 percent completion rate — for 859 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. Still, his head coach and teammates continue to believe that he’s the right fit to be the starting quarterback.
Junior tight end Pat Freiermuth said that most of Clifford’s turnovers this season haven’t been his fault.
“Cliff’s doing everything that he needs to do,” Freiermuth said. “Obviously, there’s some things that he needs to correct in his decision-making, and we’ve talked about that. But the majority of his turnovers haven’t been him. It’s been other people that weren’t executing the correct way or making the correct block or running the right route. If we could go back and pinpoint those turnovers, I would say only really two or three of them were really his.”
When asked Saturday after the Nittany Lions’ loss to the Terrapins why he didn’t consider pulling Clifford out of the game, Franklin said Clifford had earned the right to try to rally the team.
Franklin doubled down on this point on Tuesday.
“He’s our starter,” Franklin said of Clifford. “I’m not a guy that yanks guys and has quarterbacks looking over their shoulder. I think that’s something that has served us well and served me well over my 10 years. ... I don’t think that breeds confidence. When Will is the guy, he’s gonna want the same treatment that Sean has earned.”
Freiermuth feels that too many people outside of the Penn State program are solely blaming Clifford for the mistakes he’s made. But he believes the errors Clifford has made have been a result of a collective effort.
The two have had “tough conversations” with each other since Saturday’s loss.
“He told me things that I need to get better at, and I told him things that he needs to get better at,” Freiermuth said. “And so, we took those to heart. And we’re gonna come out here in this week of practice and we’re gonna continue to work and just get better at those things.”
While it is expected that Clifford will be Penn State’s starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, Levis will likely take more snaps, too. Franklin also mentioned Roberson is “making progress and moving forward.” Having options could be beneficial for Clifford and the team as a whole.
“With Will Levis, we need him to be more involved,” Franklin said. “We need him to be productive. I think we’ve all seen flashes of some of the good things that he’s done in the past.”
