James Franklin explains how Sean Clifford poise elevates his game

On3 imageby:On3 Staff Report09/28/22

No. 11 Penn State is undefeated entering the heart of Big Ten play and quarterback Sean Clifford is playing as well as he ever has. Since throwing an interception against Purdue in a tight game, he has been absolute nails for the Nittany Lions.

Any thoughts of potentially benching Clifford for the five-star freshman Drew Allar have been pretty well put to rest. Coach James Franklin points to one key area of Clifford’s development as the reason why.

“I think he’s much more even-keeled that I’ve seen in terms of his demeanor,” Franklin said. “I still think he’s having a ton of fun and competing and being a leader and all the things that really he’s done for a while, but he’s just more even-keeled. Not getting too high when things are good, he’s not getting too low when we prefer to have a play back. That I see as much as anything.”

Rewind to that Purdue game and it was a different story. At least, until it wasn’t.

Penn State fans were vocal on social media after Clifford seemed to give the game away midway through the fourth quarter. On first-and-10 with a 28-24 lead and needing simply to burn clock and keep the chains moving, Clifford fired a pass over the middle well over the head of his intended target.

Purdue’s Chris Jefferson easily snagged it and ran it back 72 yards to give the Boilermakers the lead.

Franklin, though, stuck with Clifford in a key situation. And he responded, leading the game-winning drive and punching in the winning touchdown with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keyvone Lee with 53 seconds remaining. He hasn’t looked back since.

Sean Clifford’s poise has Penn State poised to make noise

After two subpar seasons at Penn State in 2020 and 2021, Sean Clifford and his poise have the Nittany Lions back in the thick of things. Just outside the top-10, Penn State is once again a conference and College Football Playoff contender.

Since that Purdue game? Clifford has not thrown a single interception.

“He’s doing a great job. Six-year quarterback, has done a lot for Penn State,” Franklin said. “As you guys know, I’ve got a ton of respect for what he’s done for this university, what he’s done for the football program and, on top of that, always has represented us the right way off the field as well.”

The Penn State head coach pointed to his ability to stay more even-keeled than earlier in his career as the primary factor in his success right now, even though there are still areas Clifford can improve.

“I think what you’re trying to do at all positions, but obviously the quarterback position, is you’re trying to reduce those three to six plays a game that you’d like to get rid of,” Franklin said. “And I think he’s done a really good job of that. You look at his numbers right now, he’s responsible for 12 total touchdowns and one turnover. Sixty-four percent completion percentage, and I think that could even be better. Almost 1,000 yards, 39 points and most importantly 1-0 each week.”