Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M defensive tackle PJ Mustipher and quar- terback Sean Clifford, he added that the team didn't show the kind of resilience it needed in order to reach its goals. "We're responsible for all of that. I get it," he said. "We started out 5-0, did some great things but weren't able to finish the season the way we wanted to. We've got some things to work on, and we'll get it fixed." That work has now begun. The Lions won't get a do-over for the 2021 season, but they have seven months in which to address their weaknesses and build to- ward what they hope will be a more suc- cessful 2022 campaign. Much of that work will be focused on improving an offense that managed just 25 points per game in Mike Yurcich's first season as coordinator. Penn State fin- ished an underwhelming 90th in the FBS in scoring offense, thanks in large part to a running game that proved to be a consis- tent weakness. The good news for Franklin and his staff is that eight Outback Bowl starters on of- fense were slated to return as of late Janu- ary. In addition, there's a fresh infusion of talent on the way in the form of a 2022 recruiting class that is ranked seventh na- tionally by On3. Here's a position-by-position look at how the Nittany Lions' offense is shap- ing up heading into winter workouts and spring practice: QUARTERBACK KEY RETURNEES: Sean Clifford (Sr.+), Mason Stahl (R-So.), Christian Veilleux (R-Fr.) KEY LOSS: Ta'Quan Roberson NEWCOMERS: Drew Allar (Fr.), Beau Pribula (Fr.) OUTLOOK: With Clifford set to re- turn for his super senior season, there aren't many teams in college football that will be bringing back a more experienced starting quarterback than Penn State. A four-star prospect in the Nittany Lions' 2017 recruiting class, Clifford has started 33 games since the beginning of the 2019 season, when he took over the job a year ahead of schedule following Tommy Ste- vens' transfer to Mississippi State. He will be 24 years old when the team opens its 2022 season at Purdue next September. Announced in mid-December, Clif- ford's decision to return sparked a ro- bust debate among Penn State fans as to whether that was the best move for the program, which seeks to improve on its mediocre finishes of the past two seasons. The Nittany Lions' lackluster perfor- mance in the Outback Bowl threw a bit more fuel on the fire, with the veteran starter hitting just 14 of 32 passes for 195 yards and tossing two interceptions in a game in which Penn State was held score- less for the final 35 minutes. Taken as a whole, though, Clifford's senior season was an improvement over the one that preceded it. Despite having to battle back from a midseason injury and missing most of the home finale with the flu, he completed 60.9 percent of his attempts for 3,107 yards. He threw 21 touchdown passes for a team that was heavily reliant on the passing game and had eight interceptions, one fewer pick than he threw as a junior in 2020 despite attempting 177 more passes. Since taking over the starting quarter- back job in the summer of 2019, Clifford has never worked with the same offensive coordinator two years in a row. But with Yurcich back, he finally will have that ad- vantage in 2022. What's more, his decision to come back spares Penn State from having to find a veteran in the transfer portal as it grooms Veilleux, Allar and Pribula for to the op- portunity to compete for the starting spot in 2023. All three will have freshman eligi- bility this coming fall, with Veilleux likely serving as Clifford's backup just as he did in the latter stages of the 2021 season. QUOTABLE: Yurcich on Clifford: "With two young quarterbacks coming in, those guys will get exposed to the way he handles everything. They're going to get to learn from him, and that's the best way you can learn, by trying to model some- body's behavior. "And he's an expert in his preparation, how he prepares in game, how he pre- pares in the offseason. He's a pro. That's invaluable to us. I expect him to continue to improve, and I'm really looking forward to getting to coach such a great guy for another season." RUNNING BACK KEY RETURNEES: Devyn Ford (Sr.), Caziah Holmes (R-So.), Keyvone Lee (Jr.) KEY LOSSES: Noah Cain, John Lovett NEWCOMERS: Kaytron Allen (Fr.), Nick Singleton (Fr.) OUTLOOK: Somewhere among those names listed above is presumably a player (or players) who can get the Nittany Lions' ground game unstuck. Four of the five scholarship running backs on Penn State's projected 2022 roster earned four-star ratings coming out of high school. The fifth — Singleton — received a five-star rating. Even with Cain hitting the transfer portal in January, it's hard to believe that PSU lacks the personnel to field an ef- fective rushing attack, one that can grind out tough yards when needed while also producing big plays on occasion. The Nittany Lions didn't do either of those things in 2021. They averaged 107.8 rushing yards per game, ranking 13th in the Big Ten and 118th in the FBS. Their average of 3.1 yards per carry was sec- ond worst in the conference, and perhaps most astonishing of all, no Penn State ball carrier topped 100 yards rushing in any game during the season. The best single- game rushing performance of the year was Lee's 88-yard outing against Michi- gan. There's no way to sugarcoat numbers like that. As Yurcich conceded prior to the Outback Bowl, "We know that's an area that we have to improve upon." Throughout the season, Franklin was careful to note that the team's prob- lems were multifaceted. It wasn't just the backfield or the offensive line or the tight ends who were responsible for Penn State's struggles on the ground; it was everything. It stands to reason, then, that any im- provement here will require more than just better showings from the returning ball carriers or the infusion of talent that Singleton and Allen will provide. It will also require a much better performance from the people up front. That said, it's hard not to get excited about the incoming freshmen. Singleton was the Gatorade National Player of the Year after rushing for more than 6,400