Penn State’s attack was greatly shaken this off-season. James Franklin made the decision to fire the offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca in favor of the former assistant of the state of Ohio and Texas Mike Yurcich. Lions of Nittany also saw their quarterback’s room hit, with the recruitment of three 2019 stars Micah Bowens and Will Levis, who started the games in each of the last two seasons, each transferred from the program.
The move to leave Ciarrocca for Yurcich drew many mixed reactions, but it was undoubtedly a great move for an attack he fought for most of the season under the defender. Sean Clifford. All eyes will be on Franklin – and Yurcich – to improve the attack and get Clifford back on track after his regression last season.
This can happen? Speaking of 247’s The College Football Daily podcast, Lions247 insider Tyler Donohue exposed exactly that and highlighted Franklin’s track record regarding position.
“I think the question now is ‘Can he rise as a quarterback?’ He had Trace McSorley come in, followed him from Vanderbilt. McSorley was excellent. Kind of physically limited as to what he could accomplish, which is why he was a three-star prospect. He was exceptional. He kind of had that roof in place. I wouldn’t say he came out of his senior year playing better football than he did in his second year during the Big Ten title race. Christian Hackenberg showed a lot of potential that first year with Bill O’Brien. In the coming years, you could argue for regression. This will speak in the offensive line game, the weapons around it, but you didn’t see Christian Hackenberg take off like that five-star quarterback maybe would. And now at this point Sean Clifford has 20 games as a Big Ten on its resume, and you’ve seen it regress this year. You saw him recover a little late, but it’s really nothing when you watch Colégio Football Playoff that makes you say ‘This is the defender who can keep you in the games and not allow you to race in the semifinals or in the game of the national championship. ‘ Justin Fields came in and did an absolute clinic at Beaver Stadium this year and Sean Clifford was fighting over the game.
“I think that’s right: it is James Franklin will you be able to recruit an important quarterback or develop an important quarterback here? Because they are reduced to three fellows. Clifford has 20 matches and the other two guys (Ta’Quan Roberson and Christian Veilleux) have zero combined conclusions at the university level. So either they have to bring a transfer that will push Clifford or they are going to need some significant development in that room now. And one of those defenders (Veilleux) just signed up in January, so there are a lot of questions in that room right now. “
Clifford turned the ball more than 10 times in Penn State’s 0-5 start, resulting in defensive touchdowns during three straight games. He was a reserve for Levis in Nebraska and entered the next game against Iowa as a reserve for Lions Nittany. Clifford was reinstated during a sudden defeat against the Hawkeyes and retained representatives from the first team.
Clifford limited his mistakes to two turns during a four-game winning streak that ended the season. He accumulated a completion percentage of 60.6, 1,883 passing yards, 335 running yards, 19 touchdowns in total and nine interceptions.
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“A fierce competitor and twice a team captain, there is a lot of respect for Clifford on the team’s premises,” wrote Donohue in late January. “But for a program – and a head coach – adamant about making progress towards ‘elite’ football, there are big questions about its ability to help facilitate such an uplift, and now there seems to be a glaring lack of competition that could give coaches a look at viable QB1 alternatives. “