Penn State players to focus on rest, recovery, and review with regular season over before bowl prep begins
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is ready for some downtime.
Make no mistake that the veteran leader of the Nittany Lions would love nothing more than to be playing in next weekend’s Big Ten title game. A pair of teams that beat his team this year, Michigan and Iowa, have that right, however. And, so, Clifford said following Saturday’s 30-27 loss at Michigan State to close the regular season that he’s ready to decompress before preparing for a bowl game.
“I mean, it’s taking a little bit of a break the next couple days,” Clifford said. “I know I could use a break, just kind of ease my mind, put football on the side view for just a couple of days.
“Be with some family, see my girlfriend maybe, just kind of focus on finishing school off too. I’m working toward my second degree, so just kind of making sure that I’m all good there.”
Clifford has earned some rest and relaxation time. He has been banged up frequently over the course of this 7-5 season and also battled a case of the flu over the last week or so. He’s not alone in either the illness or injury department, of course. It stands to reason that the next few days will do many members of the program a lot of good.
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The Penn State break won’t last long, however
Penn State players won’t totally check out from football, of course. They’ll watch film, get into the training room if needed, and start thinking about a bowl game before long.
“Obviously I think that, you know, come Wednesday probably [start] breaking down the whole season,” Clifford said.
“Looking at every little bit, the completions, the incompletions, the interceptions, like, what what was what, what happened with what, and what could I have done better, and then just evaluate it.”
Backs Devyn Ford and Keyvone Lee agreed.
“It’s about going to the film room, correcting mistakes, and just trying to be one percent better each day,” Ford said. “That’s all it is.”
Lee added:
“I mean, just fixing the little study details and correcting things that we need to fix to help us get back on track.”
Penn State started this 2021 slate 5-0, of course, before dropping five of its final seven contests. It will not know its bowl opponent until next Sunday. Prep for the postseason matchup will begin either that day or a few days later, depending on what day the game is.
Until then, three things will be on the minds of the Nittany Lions’ players: Rest, recovery, and review while the staff both meets with them and hits the road recruiting.
“We will go out on the road recruiting on Sunday,” Penn State coach James Franklin said.
“We have meetings with the players, we will get started for bowl prep.”
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