The Rose Bowl could be Sean Clifford’s storybook ending

Opinions on Sean Clifford start to change

In 2020, as Penn State football came off the heels of another New Year’s Six win and a top-10 finish, the Nittany Lions began to struggle. In fact, that may be a drastic understatement.

Despite the program’s success from 2016-2019, Penn State football could not overcome the Covid-19 season in 2020. The Nittany Lions lost in Week 1 at Indiana and saw an 0-5 start for the first time in program history.

Some of the blame was absolutely on Sean Clifford, though I believe that he got more of it than he should have. Penn State was simply not good in 2020, but a portion of the blame still belongs to the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback. Still, it was the Covid-19 season, and in hindsight, it should not be taken too seriously.

Penn State finished the season 4-5 overall and still managed to defeat Michigan (27-17) and Michigan State (39-24) to close out the season. Sean Clifford threw for nearly 1,900 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions during Penn State’s 9-game, pandemic-ridden season in 2020.

2021 enforces a false image of Penn State’s program

In 2021, many teams were back to their usual selves. Michigan football went from 2-4 to 12-2, Michigan State went from 2-5 to 11-2, yet Penn State went from 4-5 to 7-6. Most that looked at it from afar declared that Penn State football was simply trending in the wrong direction, though that was not the case.

At the beginning of the 2021 season, Penn State football was off and running and appeared to be its usual self once again. In Week 1, Penn State went on the road to kick off its conference schedule against a ranked Wisconsin team.

The Nittany Lions fought hard and eventually defeated the Badgers, 16-10. A couple of weeks later, Penn State beat another top-25 team: the Auburn Tigers. The Lions’ 28-20 win over Auburn in the White Out game was Penn State’s third-straight win and eventually turned into a 5-0 record and a top-4 ranking.

After Penn State’s 24-0 win over Indiana, the Nittany Lions traveled to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes, who were also in the top 5 at the time. Despite taking a massive early lead, Penn State saw a series of costly injuries, including a rib injury to starting QB Sean Clifford.

A few costly turnovers (without Clifford) allowed Iowa back into the game and saw the Hawkeyes eventually take a 23-20 lead; a lead in which Penn State could not overcome.

The loss of Clifford and other key starters (such as defensive captain PJ Mustipher) sent Penn State’s season into chaos. The Nittany Lions did not have the depth last season to overcome these losses and eventually spiraled into a 2-6 record in its final eight games. Still, PSU found a way to play multiple top-10 teams within 10 points.

Penn State lost to 12-2 Michigan by four, 11-2 Ohio State by nine, and 11-2 Michigan State by three. The Lions closed out their 2021 campaign with a 24-10 loss in the Outback Bowl, a fitting ending to a messy 7-6 season.

After five games, Penn State was undefeated and Sean Clifford was playing his best football. After his injury, Penn State football struggled and Clifford seemed to be timid and far less effective as a quarterback.

Sean Clifford threw for over completed 61 percent of his passes 3,100 yards, 21 touchdowns, and eight interceptions last year.