Penn State Football: 3 players who deserve game balls from Maryland win

2. Sean Clifford, Quarterback

The whole season for Penn State turned on Sean Clifford’s injury against Iowa. He looked way less than 100 percent in the loss against Illinois. Last week against Ohio State, he looked better mobility wise but the team still lost. Against Maryland, Clifford put up his most yards against an FBS opponent this season.

On the day, Clifford threw for 363 yards completing 57.5 percent of his passes, and found the end zone three times courtesy of Jahan Dotson, more on him in a bit.

A week ago against the Buckeyes, Clifford was responsible for two turnovers, a fumble scoop and score, and an interception. He cleaned up the turnovers this week. The Nittany Lions did not turn it over as a team which goes a long way to winning games.

Another area improved for the Penn State offense was on third down. For the second week in a row, the Nittany Lions were over 50 percent on third downs, going 10-for-18. The average yards to go on those downs was 8.2 so Clifford was a big part of picking up those conversions.

Clifford’s health has been the talk of Penn State fan circles for weeks. He finally looks as good as he did before taking the injury against Iowa. If Penn State is going to get back on a winning streak, they will need Clifford to have more games like he did against Maryland. With the lack of running game, the Nittany Lions fortunes the rest of the season rely on the health of QB14.