Penn State Football: Don’t sleep on the speed of Sean Clifford

To some, it seems like Penn State football is going to look different with Sean Clifford under center. Yes, he’s more of a pure passer, but he can run.

It’s unfair to compare Penn State football likely-starting QB Sean Clifford to the scrambling ability of either Trace McSorley or Tommy Stevens. He’s a different quarterback and that’s not a bad thing at all. But the funny thing about people’s comparisons of Clifford to past QBs, is that some want to proclaim him a pure, pocket passer and that’s just not true. Clifford’s athleticism is criminally underrated, and he proved some doubters wrong in the spring game.

In his reserve reps during the 2018 season, Clifford showed off a big, powerful right arm, which made some believe he’s a strong gunslinger that can air it out from anywhere on the field and totally different from the past dual threat QBs. In those games, he didn’t get many chances to show off his legs though, and it didn’t help that two super athletic QBs were ahead of him on the roster at the time.

McSorley ran the fastest QB 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and ran for 1,697 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career. He’s a monster athlete and the perfect QB to run the zone read. Stevens was no different. Although he’s transferring away from the program, Stevens played so many positions, because of his versatile, freakishly-athletic skill set.

So, it’s an unfair comparison in the first place. With that said, he deserves more credit for his running ability. In Penn State football’s Blue and White Spring Game, he led the Blue team in rushing yards with six attempts for 31 yards. When forced to ad lib, he made the right decision to tuck and run.

He didn’t panic, he found a way to escape and run for first downs. Most of the yardage came when the play broke down not on designed run calls. He doesn’t have the game-breaking speed of the other two. But once he decides to take off, he’s got some wheels (Video Courtesy of Nittany Nation).

It should come as no surprise to anyone that he’s got quality escapability at the QB spot. In high school, Clifford rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his career and 20 touchdowns, so he’s been productive on the ground before and will again in 2019.