Penn State QB Sean Clifford displays poise in 2-touchdown performance in win over Ball State
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford attacked all three levels of the field on Saturday in the Nittany Lions’ win over Ball State.
The redshirt senior quarterback was locked and loaded against Ball State: Complete to Brenton Strange; complete for a touchdown to Jahan Dotson; complete to Cam Sullivan-Brown; complete to Theo Johnson; complete to Keyvonne Lee; complete to Parker Washington; complete to Noah Cain; complete to Devyn Ford; complete to KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Clifford even hit two-way player Marquis Wilson for a completion.
Spreading the ball around and getting his teammates involved is something that Clifford believes is the right thing to do to win games.
“I think that the more guys that get touches, the better,” Clifford said. “Especially earlier in the year — you get guys catching the ball in space, feeling it out. You’ve got a lot of vets that just know how to go with Jahan, Parker and Dre [Lambert-Smith] and getting other guys touches is always good.”
Clifford went 16-for-21 with 178 yards and a 163.1 passer rating in the first half. He went 5-for-9 on his remaining passes for 52 yards in the second half, beginning with a commanding 24-6 lead. His best throw of the day came on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dotson on 2nd and 10 with 5:31 left in the first half. Clifford finished throwing 21-for-29 with 230 yards and a touchdown.
The key for him was just to take care of the ball and not make any mistakes in the second half, showing off his legs on a 43-yard rush. He ended the day with 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach James Franklin was pleased with the performance of his quarterback.
“I thought the way we played offensively early on and, as we all know, a lot of it comes down to how well your quarterback plays and I thought he was very confident,” Franklin said. “I thought he was very efficient; I thought he was very poised early on. I thought Mike [Yurcich] called a really good game that put Sean in advantageous situations, as well, and then when Sean had an opportunity to make some plays and extend some plays, he did that as well.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for the type of athlete he is. That one long run, I don’t know how long it was, but he was running away from people. So that I know, sitting in with our defensive staff, breaking film down, when a quarterback shows that on film it gives you concern. It really takes away from some of the defensive calls and coverages that you could make.”
Every Monday, which is Penn State’s off day, the Nittany Lion starter is watching film with the young reserve quarterbacks. Prior to practice, Clifford walks onto the field earlier than most — going through his progressions and his reads, according to starting right guard Juice Scruggs.
Scruggs believes Clifford’s ability to prepare and work diligently points to his improvement as a quarterback.
“I think Cliff [Clifford] is getting better and better every week,” Scruggs said. “He’s proven all of the doubters and naysayers wrong with how he comes out and he works every day. It’s no surprise to me that he’s having the success because I see him work every day. So, I’m proud of him.”
Clifford had his struggles hitting Dotson in Penn State’s first game, against Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions quarterback went 2-for-4 on deep throws, which isn’t a metric to sneeze at, but the timing seemed a bit off. He finished 18-for-33 on passes for 247 yards and one touchdown through the air.
So they went back to work this past week. Clifford worked with Dotson throughout the days leading up to the Ball State matchup by working with his top receiver on building a rhythm and timing. Dotson found himself open many times throughout the game last Saturday, it was just all about Clifford hitting him.
That he did against Ball State, linking with Dotson for five catches and 65 yards and a touchdown. It’s what they had worked on earlier in the week.
“The thing with Sean, he approaches things every single day that he wants to be great,” Dotson said. “ That’s what you want in your quarterback. He’s a tremendous leader. He stays patient, we know he’s going to make the right play every single time. We have full faith in him and it was great to see him have such a great game today.”
Part of Clifford’s work ethic is credited to offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Yurcich joined the Penn State coaching staff with high expectations on the quarterback, directing him to make less mistakes and have clean practices. He grilled him on his acumen at reading defenses, he pushed him to be less skittish in the pocket and he required him to realize his leadership potential.
“I’ve always had fun while I’m playing, but Coach Yurcich let’s you do a lot of things — experiment,” Clifford said. “He’s not too critical — ‘You’ve got to use this drop for this, you’ve got to use this footwork for this’. He just let’s you experiment in practice and if it works, then he’s like, ‘Yeah, this looks good.’ If not, he gives a lot of criticism at the same time and he’s a great coach. He pushes you extremely hard and probably harder than I’ve ever been coached. I needed that after last year. It’s a breathe of fresh air to have him around.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 10:03 PM.
