Penn State Q&A: Sean Clifford on bye week gains, Drew Allar talk, and more

There are two key topics facing Penn State football this week. They are somewhat tied together but also not.

The first is this: What are the Lions doing to try and ensure that a 5-0 start doesn’t turn to 5-1 for the second year in a row? It was roughly a year ago when Penn State dealt with injuries it couldn’t overcome in a loss to Iowa that started a backward slide. This time around, it travels to Michigan with a perfect mark and hopes of keeping it that way. Quarterback Sean Clifford believes that last week’s work without a game can be a big difference-maker.

“I think that from a preparation perspective, I thought that we handled the bye week extremely well,” Clifford told reporters on Tuesday. “Which, we’ve done in the past. But, at the same time, I think that we took it up even more of a notch, just from a preparation perspective, working smarter, not harder.

“Sometimes, it might be the same amount of work. But looking at the things that matter, a little bit more than in the past. Just from my experience of what, specifically you need to look at what you don’t. So, I think that we worked really smart this week, I thought we also worked hard, and we got a lot out of it.”

If the bye plus this week of work equal a top-10 road win, Penn State will jump in the polls. If not, fans will continue pining for freshman Drew Allar to take over under center, even if others’ mistakes lead to a Lions loss despite a fine Clifford performance. That’s the second big question of the week. And, the quarterback addressed that and more. He is the feature of this week’s BWI Penn State Q&A.

On if he feels like Penn State has a number one receiver

“I’m very confident all our receivers, starting with the oldest guys in the room: Parker Washington, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and Mitch Tinsley. [Harrison] Tre Wallace has been doing some really good things as well,” Clifford said. “And then you know, the list kind of goes on and on from there and the tight ends getting involved in the passing game as well.

“Really excited to keep building. I think that they are a hungry group. They’re continuing to develop. It gives me a lot of confidence as a quarterback.”

What was his message to the team before the bye week?

For context, Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday that Clifford addressed the team at the start of the bye week.

“Obviously, I’ll keep a lot of it internal, because that’s family business,” Clifford said. “But at the same time, I did get up and speak. I wanted to just ensure that we understood the magnitude of what a bye week really means. I think Coach Franklin hit the nail on the head when he said it’s a bye week, not an off week. It’s an opportunity to not have an opponent, to be able to focus on ourselves. So pretty much just relaying, in my own words to the team, the importance. I thought that the team handled it extremely well. Got a lot out of it.”

On what he’s taken out of preparing for past Penn State ranked matchups heading into this one

“I think that it’s mostly about the noise and being able to take everything out of it,” Clifford said. “Really appreciate the position that I’m in. No doubt about it, [and] appreciate the position that this team is in. We work extremely hard to play in games like this, and to be able to play at a high level. So I’m extremely excited for this team. But it’s just learning from our mistakes that we might have made in the past, looking at this season alone as what we can improve off of, and then just giving a little bit of my two cents here and there to the young guys, [and] talking them through what it might look like at the stadium, what it might look like throughout the week, and just making sure everyone’s prepared as well as possible.”

Evaluating the Michigan pass rush

Through seven weeks, Michigan is fourth in the country with 22 sacks so far.

“I think that Michigan proves a lot of threats,” Clifford said. “I think that they are extremely talented up front. They look every part of one of the top defensive lines in the country. They play extremely hard. They all have high motors. And they really make it hard to; they fit runs really well. They’re really good in the pass.

“So, they’re definitely a challenge. But I have a lot of confidence in offensive line, and how they’ve handled themselves throughout the year and their development. So excited for the challenge.”

On his message to Penn State fans who might be ready to see Allar take over

“From the noise perspective, obviously, the only thing that really matters is the game in front of us,” Clifford said. “It’s hard to focus on anything else. So I can’t really say there’s any distractions right now other than the opportunity at hand.

“In my six years of playing for this university, I’m extremely excited to be able to play in this game. With the magnitude that it brings, you only get so many on this kind of stage, and it’s exciting to be able to do it.”

Penn State-Michigan kicks at Noon ET on Saturday. FOX will televise the contest.