Blue White Illustrated

>> ways that go beyond their temperaments. Penn State finished second in the Big Ten in total offense (430.3 yards per game) and third in scoring (29.8 points per game) in its only season under Kirk Ciar- rocca, but those figures didn't reflect the struggles that the team endured at times, particularly early in the season. Clifford's nine interceptions tied him with Michi- gan State's Rocky Lombardi for the league's highest total, and those turnovers, coupled with strip-sacks that produced defensive touchdowns against Maryland and Nebraska, contributed to an 0-5 start, the worst in school history. There were mitigating circumstances, of course, as the pandemic made it diffi- cult to build offensive cohesion. All Big Ten sports activities were halted last March before Penn State had been able to hold a single spring practice session. And while the cancellation of spring drills would have created problems no matter what, it happened at an especially inop- portune time for the Lions, as they were adapting to a new offensive coordinator in Ciarrocca. Even after football activities resumed later in the year, the precautions that had been put in place to slow the spread of COVID kept players separated and led to disjointed meetings and practices. Penn State had signed five wide receivers in its 2020 recruiting class, but Clifford didn't meet them face-to-face until fall camp began. He didn't throw a pass to Parker Washington until two weeks before Penn State's season opener at Indiana. Those difficulties may have been hid- den from public view, but they had a very noticeable impact on game day. As the turnovers mounted and the losses piled up, Penn State turned to backup quarter- back Will Levis. The redshirt sophomore took over for Clifford in the second quar- ter at Nebraska after the Cornhuskers re- turned a fumble for a touchdown, and he started the following week against Iowa. Clifford returned to action in the third quarter against the Hawkeyes, igniting a listless Penn State offense with touch- down passes on his first two plays of the game. But a pair of late interceptions thwarted the Lions' comeback, and they ended up with a 41-21 loss. Coming off a 2019 season in which he had led Penn State to an 11-2 record in- cluding a Cotton Bowl victory over Mem- phis, Clifford's second year as the team's starter was a case study in "learning how to deal with the trials and tribulations throughout a whole season and being able to maneuver through all that," he said. "It's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows every single play, every single game. You've got to be able to handle that adversity day in and day out. So I think that's what I learned the most. I grew up more last year. It really taught me a lot of lessons about life in general. "Looking back on when I got benched, I'm really proud of the way that I handled it personally, and I'm very thankful for my teammates, as well, because they had my back through it all. It was definitely a chal- lenge to be benched on national television for everybody to see. It takes a lot out of you. You want to lead your team, you want to be there for everybody. The one week when you don't have that opportunity, it kind of hurts. I'd be lying if I said it didn't. But at the same time, I knew I had to be there for my teammates and for Will espe- cially. The next day [after the Nebraska game], I didn't come in with any bitter- ness, I didn't come in with any woe-is-me mentality. I just looked at it as an oppor- tunity to grow and learn, an opportunity to try to give the team a spark in a different way than I usually do every week. It was a challenge, but at the same time I think that week or two was definitely one of the best experiences I've had in football." The next week against Michigan, Clifford returned as the starter and led PSU to a 27- 17 victory. It was the first of four wins to close out the season, a span in which Clif- ford completed 65.7 percent of his passes with a 5-1 touchdown-interception ratio. When the season ended, so did his working relationship with Ciarrocca. James Franklin's decision to part ways with the former Minnesota offensive co- ordinator after just one season together caught a lot of people off-guard. But if Clifford was fazed by the realization that he was going to be working with his fourth OC since arriving at Penn State in 2017, he got over it quickly. "I'm not sad about it, I'm not mad about it," he said. "It's just the way it goes right now." As he prepares for what will most likely be his third season as Penn State's start- ing quarterback, Clifford is drawing on all the knowledge he's gleaned during his time at Penn State – not just from Yurcich and Ciarrocca but from their predeces- sors, Joe Moorhead and Ricky Rahne. Franklin has seen Clifford's growth up close, and he's been pleased with the quarterback's progress this spring. "He's a vet," Franklin said. "He's a smart guy. He asks really good questions. He's had a lot of success and he's had a lot of adversity, and with that comes maturity, comes wisdom, comes experience. He's a guy who wants to be good and works at it, both mentally and physically. I think Coach Yurcich has been pretty impressed with him, in terms of his ability to take in- formation from the meetings and transfer it to the field." The next step will be to translate those gains from practice sessions to Saturday afternoons. The Lions have a tough early- season schedule this coming fall, as they're set to open at Wisconsin and will face Auburn in week three. Given those challenges and the ones that will follow, Clifford knows he can't afford to dwell on the past. Instead, he's taking what lessons he can and moving on. "It was definitely a difficult year for everybody, including myself," he said. "I learned so many things about leadership, hard work and just staying the course. All those experiences, I've just piled them up in my memory bank – how to deal with certain situations on and off the field. I think that it just kind of grew me as a man, more than it did as a player, just the whole year itself. I feel truly grown up through the sport now. I understand times of adversity. I've had both now, I've had triumph and trials, and I appreciate every single bit of it throughout my whole career. But you know, it's not even close to being over yet, so I'm excited for what lies in the future." ■

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