James Franklin updates status of Sean Clifford ahead of Ohio State game
Penn State head coach James Franklin shared great news on Tuesday regarding the health of his starting quarterback Sean Clifford. Clifford left the field 17 days ago in the game versus Iowa after a hard hit and played limited versus Illinois.
Franklin says Sean Clifford is back to 100% health with the Ohio State game just days away.
Versus Fighting Illini, he completed 19 of 34 attempts with one touchdown, but he also took four sacks – a season-high. Before the Illinois game, Sean Clifford threw for over 1,300 passing yards, while tossing in 11 touchdown passes and five interceptions.
So far this season, Clifford ranks 42nd in the country in passing yards per game and in completion percentage at 64.6%.
In 2019, Clifford threw for 2,654 yards, while tossing in 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 2020, he took a bit of a step back, throwing for 1,883 yards, while tossing in 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Clifford leads two-loss Penn State into Columbus
The game on Saturday between Ohio State and Penn State has lost a bit of its luster since the Nittany Lions dropped two in a row to Iowa and Illinois. However, it’s still a big opportunity to upset the No. 5 team in the nation and knock them out of playoff contention.
“You have to score a lot to beat Ohio State, and if you can muster only 18 points in nine overtimes against the Illini … well, let’s just say that Penn State’s defense better play its best game of the season,” On3’s Mike Huegunin wrote this week.
“The Nittany Lions do have a stout defense, though their work against the run has been spotty, but the Buckeyes have the most explosive offense in the nation. Penn State needs WR Jahan Dotson to have a big game against an Ohio State secondary that still is at least a small question mark. A win in this one and it’s hard not to think Ohio State will be 9-1 heading into its final two regular-season games, against Michigan State and Michigan.”