Penn State Football: Which Sean Clifford shows up in 2021?
Heading into the 2021 season, we break down what Penn State football fans can expect out of starting quarterback Sean Clifford.
Going into next season, one of the biggest questions facing Penn State football, is simply, what are the Nittany Lions going to get out of Sean Clifford?
Are they going to get the guy who threw 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions two years ago or the one that tossed nine picks in nine games as Penn State struggled to a 4-5 record?
It seems that there may have been a little too much hype surrounding Clifford prior to last season. He was good back in 2018. He threw for 275 yards or more five times and only had one game with multiple interceptions, but he wasn’t a superstar.
In fact, in eight of his 12 starts in 2019, he completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes. Yet, the one thing he didn’t do as often was throw interceptions.
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Clifford also didn’t run the ball as well in 2019 as he did in 2020. But that’s not as important as him continuing to play as well as he did down the stretch.
In the last four games, Clifford never completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and after the Michigan game, which seemed to be a turning point, he didn’t complete less than 63 percent.
That game in Ann Arbor also got him going as a rusher with 73 yards on the ground. That and a 48-yard effort against Michigan State were his second and third-best efforts of the year. During those four straight wins, he also scored two rushing touchdowns and threw six touchdown passes, compared to just one interception.
Clifford will have to hold off Ta’Quan Roberson, a holdover with little experience and also incoming freshman Christian Veilleux, who is enrolled and taking part during spring practices, but Clifford should have the edge, especially with his experience.
If Penn State football can get Clifford to play the way he did for 2019 and the final stretch of 2020, the Nittany Lions should have a chance to contend next season in the Big Ten East.