Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1400830
2 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "You don't really, truly learn un- til you experience it yourself. And it's definitely a lot. It's a lot on your mind, it's a lot on your physical [well-being]," Clifford said. "There's a lot more than just throwing a ball. And I think that was something that I had to learn and grow through in 2019. Then in 2020, I think that was magnified because I needed to weather the storm, not only within the team, but I had to weather it within myself. "There's no inch of my body that would ever want to lose five games. That's just not how I'm wired. I'm an extremely competitive person, and the last thing I want to do is lose for my team, for my coaches, and then for the fan base. It's just a brutal thing to go through." For Clifford, there was no bottom to last year's misery. Although he managed to hit 60.5 per- cent of his passes, improving his com- pletion percentage by two points from the previous year and throwing for 1,883 yards and 16 touchdowns, the turnovers — he tied for the Big Ten high with nine interceptions — proved devastating. Clifford connected on 68.6 percent of his attempts in the late-October opener at Indiana, throwing for three touch- downs and rushing for another, but his two picks proved costly. From there, the situation got progres- sively worse for Clifford and the team. The Nittany Lions lost consecutive games to Ohio State and Maryland at home, then fell at Nebraska, a game in which Clifford was pulled before the end of the first half following an in- terception and fumble. They lost again to visiting Iowa after a pick-six by the Hawkeyes thwarted their second-half comeback bid. All told, Clifford threw eight interceptions in that five-game span while completing only 48.3 per- cent of his pass attempts for 1,070 yards and 11 touchdowns. Equally demoralizing to a Penn State offense that had entered the season with high expectations, the absences of then-junior Journey Brown and then- sophomore Noah Cain at running back left Clifford as the Nittany Lions' pri- mary ball carrier. He racked up 52 rush- ing attempts in the first three games, netting 150 yards and a touchdown. But Clifford was able to turn his sea- son around, throwing just one more in- terception in the team's final four games while completing 65.6 percent of his attempts. More important, he led the Nittany Lions to four wins. In the pro- cess, he regained the trust and confi- dence of head coach James Franklin and his teammates heading into a critical offseason. While the Lions may have finished strong, they suffered their first losing season since 2004. That was enough to prompt a major staff change, with Kirk Ciarrocca departing after just one season as offensive coordinator to make way for Mike Yurcich. Elsewhere, it was the returnees who made news. At the receiver position, All-Big Ten senior Jahan Dotson was persuaded to come back for one more season rather than leave early for the NFL. The Nittany Lions' offense also features a pair of promising tackles in redshirt junior Rasheed Walker and red- shirt sophomore Caedan Wallace, with senior interior lineman Mike Miranda shifting to center under the direction of assistant coach Phil Trautwein. Returning from injury, Cain is part of a stable of running backs that make up one of the nation's better backfields top-to-bottom. And the tight end posi- tion also looks strong, with sophomores Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson both having gained experience after Pat Frei- ermuth suffered a season-ending injury last year. So, the table is set and arranged for Penn State's turnaround, and its offen- sive changes are a primary component of that plan. The coaching staff and ros- ter have been assembled with an eye to- ward producing offensive numbers akin to the 2016 and '17 seasons. Whether the Lions are able to do that will depend heavily on having a confident, compe- tent, productive Sean Clifford at quar- terback. James Franklin is hopeful, noting that Clifford has learned a lot in his two pre- vious starting seasons at Penn State. "He's been through a number of sys- tems now," Franklin said. "He's had a lot of success. People forget, [at this time last year] we were talking about Sean as maybe one of the better quarterbacks in Mike Yurcich (right) is the fourth offensive coordinator to work with Clifford during the quarterback's tenure with the Nittany Lions. Yurcich was preceded by Joe Moorhead, Ricky Rahne and Kirk Ciarrocca. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS