Penn State football to start Will Levis at QB over Sean Clifford against Iowa
After Penn State head coach James Franklin said throughout the week that a decision between redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Levis and redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford hadn’t been made, it was Levis who was displayed on the Beaver Stadium video board as the starter on Saturday afternoon before the Nittany Lions kicked off against Iowa.
The 6-foot-3, 222-pound Levis subbed in for Clifford in the early second quarter of Penn State’s 30-23 loss to Nebraska last weekend. Franklin decided to make the change after Clifford threw an interception on the Nittany Lions’ first drive of the contest and had a fumble returned for a touchdown less than four minutes into the second quarter.
Now, it looks like Levis will maintain that role — at least for the immediate future.
Last Saturday was Clifford’s 16th career start, and the 6-foot-2, 217-pound Ohio native was expected to take a step forward this year after leading the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 record in 2019. But through three-plus games this season, Clifford has had eight turnovers — six interceptions and two fumbles returned for touchdowns — to go with his 10 touchdowns (nine passing and one rushing). He’s completed just 74 of his 130 pass attempts (56.9 completion percentage) for 896 yards and rushed for 169 yards on 58 carries.
Clifford finished last season with 2,654 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions through the air, while adding 402 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Levis has appeared in three games this season, but he didn’t get significant playing time until last Saturday’s loss to Nebraska. In that contest, Levis almost led the Nittany Lions to a comeback from a 24-3 deficit — outscoring the Cornhuskers 20-6 for nearly three quarters. The Connecticut native threw for a career-high 219 yards on 14-of-31 passing and rushed for 61 yards.
In his only other career start — last year against Rutgers — Levis finished 8-of-14 passing for 81 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He added 108 rushing yards in that game.
Ever since arriving at Penn State in the fall of 2018, Levis has made it a point to prepare like he’s the starter. He’ll now get a chance to demonstrate all he’s worked on while waiting for his opportunity these last two-plus years.
“I’m completely confident in abilities,” Levis said Saturday, “and I have been these last couple seasons.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 3:17 PM.
