Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
2 2 D E C 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 P atience is a virtue when your live- lihood is in the hands of teenag- ers and twenty-somethings, and Mike Yurcich is probably about as pa- tient as one can be in a business like his. But he has his limits. During a conference call with report- ers two days before Penn State was set to visit Iowa, the Nittany Lions' first- year offensive coordinator was asked about the progress that fifth-year se- nior quarterback Sean Clifford had made in recent months. It was a version of a question that had been posed to Yurcich countless times since his ar- rival in State College in January, and on the eve of the team's Week 6 visit to Iowa City, the veteran assistant coach couldn't hide his exasperation, push- ing back forcefully on the notion that Clifford's development was in any way separable from the rest of the offense. "It's Sean, it's Sean, it's Sean. How has Sean improved? Sean, Sean, Sean. Dude, it's a team game. If the protection is bet- ter, that's going to help Sean, right? If the protection is poor, the quarterback is going to look poor," Yurcich said. "I don't know what to tell you. Would Tom Brady be Tom Brady if the Browns had drafted him back in 1974 or whenever he came out? No, he wouldn't. It's all relative." Leaving aside that Tom Brady would quite possibly be in a retirement home right now if he'd entered the NFL in 1974 instead of in 2000, when he was drafted by the New England Patriots out of Michigan, Yurcich's point seemed entirely valid. The Nittany Lions' of- fense, like all offenses, was a collabora- tive project. Five games into the season, the line was keeping defenders away from the vet- eran quarterback, the pass catchers were making their share of big plays down- field, particularly senior receiver Jahan Dotson, and the defense was ensuring that the offense wasn't handicapped by having to play from behind all the time. Except for the running game, which was still struggling to produce yards, the ma- jor elements of Penn State's offense were trending in the right direction. And then, in an instant, everything changed. On a third-and-seven play from the 14-yard line early in the second quarter of Penn State's visit to Iowa, Clifford threw an incompletion in the end zone and was driven into the turf by Hawk- eyes linebacker Jack Campbell just as he released the ball. Campbell admit- ted afterward that while he was deter- mined to deliver a clean shot, he also intended to "hit him as hard as I could." Which he did. After the play, Clifford pulled himself up gingerly then headed to the medical tent and eventually to the locker room to be examined for what appeared to be a lower-back injury. When the team returned to the field for the second half, Clifford was with- out his pads and helmet. That's when the Nittany Lions found out just how indispensable this one singular player was to everything they had hoped to ac- complish during the 2021 season. The offense floundered at Iowa with redshirt sophomore Ta'Quan Roberson filling in at quarterback, managing only three points over the last 42 minutes of the game amid a flurry of incomple- tions, interceptions and false-start penalties. Unable to generate yards or points, Penn State couldn't stop Iowa from chipping away at its 17-3 second- quarter lead and eventually fell, 23-20. "It's a next-man-up mentality," head coach James Franklin said ruefully after the game. "We weren't ready for that on the road." They weren't ready at home ei- ther, even after a bye week, and even with Clifford back in action. Although healthy enough to return, Clifford clearly wasn't himself in a 20-18 loss to Illinois that took nine overtime pe- Clifford has demonstrated his resilience and toughness again this season, bouncing back from a game-ending injury at Iowa to return to the starting lineup and lead the Lions' offense. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL