Sean Clifford adds another preseason watch list nod

Sean Clifford‘s preseason watch list recognition continues to grow. Tuesday morning, the Penn State quarterback was announced to the Davey O’Brien Award watch list. It recognizes college football’s top quarterback.

The news followed a Monday release including Clifford on the Maxwell Award’s preseason watch lis. It annually recognizes the nation’s best player.

Ahead of his sixth season at Penn State, Clifford turned 24 years old this month. His fourth as the presumed starter, he is already among the Nittany Lions’ most prolific passers in program history. And, his COVID bonus year return gives him an opportunity to climb in the school record books.

Records of note with the potential to be broken include Trace McSorley‘s all-time career passing yardage (9,899 yards), career completions (720), and touchdown passes (70), and career wins as a starting quarterback (31). Clifford currently has 7,839 passing yards, 607 completions, 62 passing touchdowns, and 21 wins as a starter.

To get there, Clifford will need to improve on a season that took a dramatic downturn after a 5-0 start.

Sean Clifford’s next steps

For Clifford, doing so is predicated on his relationship with offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. And, maybe more important than that, Clifford also includes his grasp of the offense and what those nuances could mean for the Nittany Lion offense moving forward.

“The excitement for me is second-year OC. That’s it. I haven’t had that in my whole career starting here. First time I’m going to be able to do it. Could not be more excited,” Clifford told BWI in an interview earlier this summer. “Because, the stress of learning all the way up to the season and trying to… that is all gone and it’s all about mastery. It’s not, ‘What can Coach Yurcich put on my plate?’ It’s, ‘What can I take off Coach Yurcich’s plate?’

“Now that takes away brain space for him to then focus on anything else he wants to, whether it be calling a game, whether it be developing players, whatever it may be. But there’s just so much I can now say, ‘Hey, I can handle that. I can handle this. I can handle that.'”

The sentiment stated by Clifford is one Yurcich shares.

Acknowledging an improvement in consistency through the spring for the super senior quarterback, Yurcich said that the dividends of their time together have shown themselves.

“On the field, it just feels like there’s more consistency. When we grade the tape, there’s more efficiency. There are more completions statistically. The data-driven information shows us there’s been an improvement there,” Yurcich said. “And then I think as a quarterback coach, you get a feel and a sense of how guys are reacting, how their demeanor is on the field, how quickly they get through certain things, how comfortable or more comfortable they are in the pocket and navigating and knowing where some answers are to a problem coverage. Just being able to see the field and scanning quicker is something that you go by as a gauge as well.”

Penn State preseason award watch lists (updating)

Sean Clifford – Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award