Blue White Illustrated

n the wake of a disastrous perform- ance at quarterback to open the 2020 season, Penn State head coach James Franklin reframed the conversation at the position this spring. As much a necessity as a choice, Franklin's approach reflects the situa- tion in which the Nittany Lions find themselves as a program. With Penn State welcoming a new of- fensive coordinator in Mike Yurcich, and with a fifth-year quarterback at the helm in Sean Clifford, the slate has effectively been wiped clean ahead of the 2021 sea- son. And, although the temptation was to want or expect something resembling a finished, refined product from Clifford this spring, the Lions have been content to turn their collective attention to some- thing more immediate and manageable. Focusing only on the present and the process, Franklin's goal throughout the off-season is simply to ensure daily de- velopment while avoiding the pitfalls of dwelling obsessively on the future. "The quarterback work is important. I think Sean has done some really good things this spring," Franklin said. "I think Mike has been impressed in terms of Sean's approach. It's really important to Sean. He works hard at it. He prepares like you're supposed to prepare." That preparation, the Nittany Lions are convinced, will lead the team toward the kind of improvement that took six games to materialize last season. Whether their faith is well-founded or simply wishful thinking can't be known right now. But ultimately, it doesn't matter anyway. Without beating the horse to death five times over, Clifford's performance last season must be improved upon. He com- pleted 152 of 251 passes for 1,883 yards and 16 touchdowns, numbers that were offset dramatically by nine interceptions and a sequence of costly fumbles among his 99 rushing attempts for 335 yards. The string of turnovers proved to be one of the team's biggest shortcomings in a season-gone-wrong in nearly every re- spect. It wasn't the only factor that con- tributed to Penn State's 0-5 start, but the magnitude of its impact has been some- thing the quarterback has worked to di- minish over the past four months. Finding satisfaction in the opportunity to improve each day, through a holistic approach that has shrunken the big pic- ture, Clifford is seeing things from a dif- ferent vantage point. "I've started to focus and hone in this year on just taking it one day at a time because that's all that I can control. I can't control what happens game day against Wisconsin right now. That's out of my control," Clifford said. "But at the same time, I can control what I do to- morrow, what film I watch, what I do with my body. I can control practice when it comes along. It's just taking it every single day." Putting those words into action, Clif- ford has found a public advocate and ally this spring in Yurcich. Describing him as a "football guy" who "prepares like a pro," Yurcich insisted that Clifford has the personal character- istics that are necessary to achieve suc- cess. But after the quarterback's uneven performance in a public scrimmage at Beaver Stadium on April 17, the Lions' new offensive coordinator allowed for and embraced the bottom line at hand, which is that considerable work remains for Clifford ahead of a season-opening trip to Madison, Wis., on Sept. 4. "Where he can improve the most is It's easy to see Micah Parsons and understand the talent he has, it's another thing to find a player with great potential but be uncertain if he'll be able to tap into it. As often was the case under former coach Bill O'Brien, the challenge is making the most out of every scholarship offer. If a program needs a good right tackle but can only offer two scholarships for the position, one of those right tackles better pan out. So being able to identify the safe commitments is one thing, being able to land the diamonds in the rough and positions of need at a high rate is perhaps even more important. ... That could very well be the case for a 2021 class that seems underwhelming by traditional re- cruiting metrics but appears to otherwise check off a lot of boxes. In the long run, you simply never know how a career is going to pan out. BEN JONES STATECOLLEGE.COM It's safe to say Penn State women's volleyball's trip to the NCAA Tournament didn't go as planned. But in a season like no other, that was to be expected. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 4 seed Texas 3-1 in the tournament's regional semifinals. Despite some hard-fought volleys and sets, Penn State couldn't keep up with the Longhorns' physical attack and staunch net presence. Playing just one match beforehand in the last month probably didn't help, either. MATT DiSANTO ONWARDSTATE.COM T H E M O N T H I N . . . O P I N I O N S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT Sean Clifford focuses on day-to-day improvements as he preps for 2021 season JUDGMENT CALL I

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