Sunday Column: All Eyes on Clifford as Pivotal Penn State Season Approaches

Soon, we will find out exactly what sort of Penn State team we have on our hands. We won’t have to guess or argue about whether the defensive line has enough depth or who will step up as the third wide receiver – we’ll know. College football is back, and by this time next week, the Nittany Lions will be 1-0 or 0-1 and we’ll have five times more questions but we’ll also have 10 times more answers, with more to follow each week as summer becomes fall.

At the same time, what has been pretty much the question of the offseason, if not the last three years, will likely remain, and that is:

Can Sean Clifford get it done?

It’s inescapable, really. Football, as we discussed last week, is the teamiest of team sports and Penn State will need strong play from both lines and everywhere else, really, to wipe last season from everyone’s memory and be a true factor in the Big Ten/playoff chases. But you can protect an inexperienced cornerback with scheme. You can help a hobbled left tackle with tight ends and chipping running backs. There’s nowhere to hide an ineffective quarterback.

On the one hand, Clifford is in a highly enviable situation. He’s 23 years old. He lives on a campus that is as football-crazed as any north of the Mason-Dixon line. He has his college degree in-hand already, and he’s done well with NIL deals so far. He has two years of starting experience, a mostly veteran line to watch his back, an intriguing group of receivers and tight ends to throw to, and a new offensive coordinator who has excelled basically everywhere he’s been. He’s got a good arm and quick feet to get him out of trouble. He’s in a great spot to succeed.

On the other hand, the dude has some serious psychological scar tissue. He was, at various points, difficult to watch last season, missing throws he’d made before, struggling with timing, rarely finding much comfort in the pocket and turning the ball over at an alarming rate. With the injuries and inexperience Penn State’s offense had last year, a Big Ten title was never going to be in the cards. But the ceiling of that team as constructed was higher than the actual result, and the play of both quarterbacks was a major reason why.

This is a player who, remember, deleted his social media accounts two years ago after receiving death threats (he’s since brought them back). Even if he can block out the digital detractors, there will be no shortage of them back in Beaver Stadium this fall, ready to make their dissatisfaction heard with every pick or three-and-out. There have been other Penn State quarterbacks who have been similarly scrutinized and even vilified, but it’s a rare thing for one of them to be a fifth-year senior who might not have yet shown us his ceiling … or his floor. Pro Football Focus ranked him 88^th out of 130 FBS starting QBs this summer, which suggests Penn State fans aren’t the only ones who are less than bullish of his chances to thrive.

That scrutiny figures to be ramped up this season, which is both fair for a player of Clifford’s experience and talent and unfair considering that he needs 10 other guys – and some, ahem, heady clock management from the coaches – to help him make the offense reach its full potential. If the line botches a protection and Clifford takes the sack, who will those anxious fans blame? If a receiver cuts off his route two yards early but the ball is where it’s supposed to be, who will take the blame? These are the circumstances that all quarterbacks must deal with as it relates to fans of all levels of football knowledge, but this particular quarterback has already burned through enough of his fans’ collective patience that he’s going to have to play pretty damned well, and consistently so, to keep them from calling for Ta’Quan Roberson or Christian Veilleux every other series.

What should help Clifford is that, at least at the outset of the season, neither of those players seems to be as ready to step in as Will Levis was last year. In other words, it’s his show. Whether that winds up being a boost for his confidence or adds more internal pressure to a player who often has trouble settling down early in games remains to be seen.

Clifford’s teammates and coaches, unsurprisingly, have let it be publicly known that they have his back. They know as well as anyone that he can’t, and shouldn’t have to, do it alone. Clifford would do well to remind himself of that from time to time, too. He might have to play at an elite, if not impossible, level to change some minds this fall, but he might only have to play at a moderately high level to put double digits in the win column.

Either way, we’ll know soon enough.