Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1518105
A P R I L 2 0 2 4 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2019 Quarterback Sean Clifford com- pleted 11 of 19 passes for 118 yards to lead the Blue past the White, 24-7, in Penn State's spring game April 13, but the real excitement came four days later when Clifford's rival for the starting job, Tommy Stevens, announced that he planned to transfer. Stevens had missed the Blue-White Game while recovering from surgery to repair an undisclosed injury he sus- tained during the 2018 season, but he was viewed by many as the team's likely starter after patiently backing up Trace McSorley the previous two seasons. As head coach James Franklin noted at the start of spring drills, "Tommy under- stands it's his turn now to step up." Instead, Stevens stepped away. His surprise exit threw an otherwise orderly PSU offseason into turmoil, thrust- ing Clifford, a redshirt sophomore at the time, into the starting job a year ahead of schedule. The Lions did have a strong-armed redshirt freshman named Will Levis on their roster, but Clifford had done nothing to dissuade anyone from thinking that he was the team's best option following Stevens' depar- ture. Stevens ended up transferring to Mis- sissippi State, where he played in nine games during an injury-plagued senior season. He completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 1,155 yards and was later drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round. Between September 2020 and August 2021, he was waived by the Saints, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. He's spent the past two seasons with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. 10 YEARS AGO, 2014 James Franklin knew he was inherit- ing a sanction-plagued program when he agreed to become the Nittany Li- ons' head coach in January 2014, but it wasn't until spring practice began that he and his staff fully understood the ex- tent of PSU's shortcomings in certain areas. The offensive line was foremost among the Lions' concerns. Aside from All-Big Ten left tackle Donovan Smith and veteran left guard Miles Dieffen- bach, there wasn't much experience returning, and that problem became much more acute when Dieffenbach went down with a torn ACL. Penn State's depth problems were so profound that the coaches moved a pair of defensive linemen — Brian Gaia and Derek Dowrey — to the offensive side of the ball and watched them emerge almost immediately as contenders to start. "I think this is probably unique," Franklin said. "I've been places where, when we first showed up, we had chal- lenges in terms of depth and things like that. I'm not sure that I've ever been in a situation where you don't even have a scholarship two-deep. … But it is what it is. We're going to find a way to make it work." 25 YEARS AGO, 1999 Neither of Penn State's two contend- ers for the starting quarterback job dazzled in the Blue-White Game. To- gether, Kevin Thompson and Rashard Casey combined to complete just 23 of 41 passes. And yet, with 19 starters returning from a squad that had gone 9-3 the year before, the Lions knew they were going to be faced with daunting expectations heading into Joe Paterno's 50th year as a member of the PSU coaching staff. Their defense was anchored by a pair of star players in end Courtney Brown and linebacker LaVar Arrington, who would go on to be chosen first and second overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. The team also had its share of offensive playmak- ers, such as receiver Chafie Fields and running back Eric McCoo. Arrington told reporters following the spring game that he and his teammates were unfazed by the national champi- onship hopes that had begun to build after the 1998 squad wrapped up its season with a 26-14 win over Kentucky in the Outback Bowl. "This team is mature enough to un- derstand what's at stake," he said. "We'll be ready when the time comes. We'll be focused on what has to be done." — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History Sean Clifford had been vying with Tommy Stevens for the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback job in 2019, but their com- petition abruptly ended when Stevens announced after spring practice that he was planning to transfer. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL