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2021 Penn State Nittany Lions Profile Card: Sean Clifford

kevin mcguire
·3 min read

Name: Sean Clifford

Number: 14

Position: Quarterback

Class: Redshirt senior

Height: 6′-2″

Weight: 220

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio

High School: Saint Xavier

Twitter: @seancliff14

Overview

Following in the shows of Trace McSorley was not going to be an easy task, but Sean Clifford has taken on the role as Penn State’s starting quarterback honorably. CLifford is not without his own skills and abilities, of course, but Clifford has had a few more moments he;’d like to forget than McSorley probably did. But from those unfortunate moments, Clifford has been able to mature and evolve, setting the stage for what could be his best season yet as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions.

Clifford’s mistakes on the field have been well documented, but it would be unfair to completely ignore the good Sean Clifford has demonstrated the past few seasons. Clifford has passed for 4,732 yards and 41 touchdowns, the majority of which has come the past two seasons (21 games in all). Clifford has also contributed on the ground with 734 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.

Clifford’s 2020 season was a bumpy one. Clifford’s errors came back to haunt Penn State in a big way along the path to a dreadful 0-5 start (not all of which could be shouldered on Clifford, by the way) that saw Clifford benched as the starter. But Clifford learned from that brief benching and took that as a moment to appreciate the support he still had around the program. Clifford returned as the starter for the final stretch of the regular season and helped lead Penn State to a four-game winning streak to close out the season.

Clifford is now entering his third season as the Penn State starting quarterback. He will do so with his third offensive coordinator, which can be challenging for any player. But Mike Yurcich coming in as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach should work out quite well for Clifford. And having the opportunity to actually work together in a more regular practice environment in the spring should put Clifford and the entire Penn State offense on a better track for success in the fall after last year’s messy situation.

Are we about to see the best of Sean Clifford in 2021? All signs point in that direction. Just how good is the best of Sean Clifford? We’ll soon find out, but the success of Penn State’s 2021 season will rely heavily on how efficient and productive Clifford is running the offense.

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Penn State Nittany Lions 2021 Football Schedule

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