Sean Clifford earns B1G honors for engineering Penn State win
Directing Penn State to its season-opening win at Purdue on Thursday, 35-31, quarterback Sean Clifford notched another compelling story to his six-year career with the Nittany Lions. Monday, he added another recognition because of it.
Announced by the Big Ten via social media, Clifford has been named the conference’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week. It’s his third career honor in the category, this time coming on the heels of his game-winning performance over the Boilermakers to kick off the 2022 campaign.
Finishing with 20 completions on 37 attempts for 282 yards and four touchdowns with one interception, Clifford’s stat line likely has little to do with the distinction Monday. Rather, overcoming a costly fourth-quarter pick-six, Clifford’s masterful two-minute drill work to retake the lead late in the game can be credited for the honor.
“The guy has kind of had a roller-coaster career. He’s had unbelievable games and won 11 games, and we all as a program have had some adversity as well,” Franklin said after the game. “I’m proud of him. The experience counts and the experience matters. It showed there at the end of the game, when he made some big plays, he showed some toughness.
“He took a couple of shots. He showed a bunch of character, showed a bunch of toughness. And obviously, it takes a ton of confidence to bounce back from a pick-six and lead your team to a game-winning drive. So, I’m proud of him.”
Sean Clifford’s winning performance
Clifford’s game-winning drive was a model of efficiency. Taking possession with 2:22 left to play from the Penn State 20-yard line, Clifford immediately went to work.
He first connected with Mitchell Tinsley for an 8-yard completion. Then, he followed a second-down incompletion with a critical 7-yard first-down pickup to KeAndre Lambert Smith. Soon after, a Kaytron Allen 8-yard pickup set up one of the drive’s critical plays. That was a 27-yard pitch and catch to Tinsley, which he then took into the fringe scoring zone.
“You just gotta get the ball in the best players’ hands,” Clifford said. “All I had to do was just get the ball out quick. I was happy with the tempo we played with and the O-line held in there fantastically.”
Following the big gain with a short pickup to Keyvone Lee and a perfect 15-yard strike to tight end Tyler Warren into goal-to-go territory, Clifford and the Nittany Lions quickly cashed in. Taking advantage of a cover zero look from the Boilermakers, Clifford worked to the sideline and hit a streaking Lee with a floater to cross the goal line and give Penn State the win.
Next steps
For Clifford and the Nittany Lions, the experience serves as another chapter in a lengthy career. Bouncing back from the letdown of a lead vanishing into thin air on his pick-six, Clifford’s poise and composure were evident throughout the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Franklin said.
“Sean’s shown character over his entire career. So I’m really happy for him,” Franklin said. “But yeah, the pick six, obviously you never want turnovers, and then turnovers for touchdowns are significant. But we battled back. I thought the sideline was great with him. I thought Coach Yurcich was great with him, and that’s really important, too.
“The guy knows he made a mistake. You don’t need to come to the sideline and get your head ripped off. So I was proud with how really the whole organization handled it. He’ll grow from this as well.”
