Four Penn State players named to college football awards watch lists
Four Penn State football players have been named to watch lists for postseason awards.
Nittany Lions redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford was named to the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award watch lists. Sophomore running back Keyvone Lee, Joey Porter Jr. and redshirt long snapper Chris Stoll are also on watch lists. Here’s a closer look at each:
Sean Clifford, redshirt senior quarterback
The Maxwell Award is presented yearly to the college football player to be the best all-around in the United States, while the Davey O’Brien Award is presented to the outstanding quarterback in college football. Clifford is just one of three Nittany Lions to reach 8,000 yards of total offense and one of three Penn State quarterbacks to surpass 7,500 career passing yards.
The redshirt senior quarterback finished 2021 with a career season. He passed for a 61% completion rate with 3,107 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions. Clifford has passed for 7,839 yards on a 61.8% completion rate with 62 touchdown passes, 24 interceptions and a passer rating of 141.5. He’s added 897 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns during his career.
Keyvone Lee, sophomore running back
The Doak Walker Award is presented to the top running back in college football. A list of criteria must be met including the candidate playing primarily running back, being enrolled in a degree program, in good academic standing and is on schedule to graduate, holding good citizenship within and outside of athletics, demonstrating a record of leadership and exhibiting the characteristics of sportsmanship and fair play associated with former Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker (1945-1949).
Lee was the lone Penn State rusher to average over four yards a carry last season (4.9). He rushed for 530 yards and added two touchdowns on the ground, along with catching 15 passes for 130 yards.
Joey Porter Jr., redshirt junior cornerback
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented to a college football player on defense who is the IMPACT (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity) player of the year.
Porter Jr. compiled 51 total tackles (40 solo), one forced fumble, an interception and four pass deflections last season. In three season with the Nittany Lions, he has 86 total tackles (86 solo), two tackles for loss, one interception, nine pass deflections and a forced fumble.
Chris Stoll, redshirt senior long snapper
Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominees include 114 student-athletes “with exemplary community service, academic dedication and impact on and off of the field. Stoll is in his third year as president of Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes — a chapter that has raised close to $1.4 million for rare disease research since the first Penn State Lift for Life in 2003.
The redshirt senior long snapper was part of a special teams unit that aided Penn State to rank second in the country in net punting (44.5 yards) and ninth in punt return defense (2.79 yards), snapping to Big Ten Punter of the Year Jordan Stout. Stout won four Big Ten Special Team Player of the Week awards and tied with Purdue’s Travis Dorsch (2001).
