Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
worked out on nearby practice fields where he threw to his younger brother. It wasn't all bad. For one thing, Clifford's younger brother has some serious receiv- ing credentials. Liam Clifford is a Nittany Lion recruit, a member of the Class of 2021 who will be joining Sean at Penn State next year. The work they put in "definitely was beneficial for both of us," Sean said. Also, Ciarrocca found ways to make the online study sessions fun and effective. Sometimes he would conduct the meet- ings as "Jeopardy" style game shows in the hope of making them a little more lively. "It was a lot of fun," Clifford said. "We had different categories, and he was the game show host. … The variety of things that he does keeps us on our toes, makes sure that we're staying on top of the playbook." Unable to work with his new offensive coordinator in person this past spring, Clifford focused on improving his mental approach. One of the people he reached out to was Seth Makowsky, founder of a company called Poison Pawn, which uses chess as a way to train athletes, perform- ers and businesspeople to be more intel- lectually nimble. Chess requires players to always be thinking several moves ahead, and that skill – the ability to plan for multiple contingencies – can be en- hanced and applied to many other fields, Makowsky contends. Clifford said he ex- pects the training sessions to prove help- ful when he returns to action. "I find a lot of connections to football," he said. "He's not a chess trainer; he's an elite mindset trainer. So he teaches you how to go through your reads and have a good formula to attack each play, attack each day and just grow as a person. So that's just one thing that I've really been working on." Preseason practice will afford Clifford an opportunity to finally put that training to use on the field. Until recently, Ciar- rocca's impressions of him had come pri- marily from film study and Zoom calls. The only time the two have shared a sta- dium was last November at Minnesota, when the veteran offensive coordinator was in the opposite coaches' booth. The Gophers prevailed, 31-26, partly due to a Ciarrocca-designed game plan that kept the Nittany Lion defense on its heels throughout the first half, and also to a Minnesota defense that stymied Clifford at key moments. He threw for 340 yards but was intercepted three times, with the W hen he stepped onto the field early in the third quarter at Ohio State, Will Levis didn't know how badly starting quarterback Sean Clifford had been injured or how long Penn State would need him to lead its offense. For all he knew, it might only be a play or two. It turned out to be the rest of the reg- ular season. But Levis was prepared for that possibility, too. "I think every quarterback in this of- fense, and every offense, needs to know that their number can be called at any time," Levis said. "It's something that we've preached in our offense ever since I was a freshman. What Trace [McSorley] told us was that you need to prepare every day as if you're the start- ing quarterback. Because if you do that, when your number gets called, it's not going to be a shock. That's something I took to heart." Levis is back for his redshirt sopho- more season, and he'll be joined by redshirt freshman Ta'Quan Roberson, one of Penn State's top performers on the scout team a year ago, and true freshman Micah Bowens. The Nittany Lions recently lost a scholarship quar- terback, as one of Roberson's class- mates, Michael Johnson Jr., entered the transfer portal in June. But with Levis, Roberson and Bowens backing up Clif- ford, Penn State appears to have one of the deeper quarterback rooms in the Big Ten. At Ohio State, Levis kept his cool and led the Lions to touchdowns on his first two possessions, helping them turn a potential Buckeye romp into a compet- itive game. Penn State ended up losing, 28-17, but Levis's gritty performance on the road against the eventual Big Ten champs – he completed 6 of 11 passes for 57 yards and added 34 yards on the ground – showed that he's pre- pared to step in when needed. He left Columbus that day feeling disap- pointed with the outcome but hopeful that the experience would make him a better quarterback. "Even though I felt like I was pretty prepared, I still had a long way to go," he said. "I think we could have won that game. It stinks that we didn't, but I learned a lot from watching the film of it. Getting those physical reps, that physical experience in an environment like that, made me a lot better player and matured me as a player." Levis made his first career start against Rutgers the following week. His passing numbers were modest, as he completed 8 of 14 attempts for 81 yards. But he also rushed for 108, the 10th- highest total by a quarterback in school history, to help lift the Lions to a 27-6 victory in their regular-season finale. >> QBs Levis, Roberson strive to always be prepared |