Penn State football: 5 Players to watch vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

4. Sean Clifford, QB

It’s kind of hard to note players that are key to a victory without including the quarterback. We figured heading into the year that the backfield will be the real strength of the Lions’ offense, but Sean Clifford hasn’t allowed that to happen — which is good!

So far, Clifford has been playing some solid ball. That’s not to say that he hasn’t left some meat on the bone in the passing game, but he hasn’t really left us with anything to complain about so far. He’s got six passing touchdowns, and zero turnovers through two weeks. Not bad at all.

Not to mention, he’s actually been pretty good in the ground game as well. Just last week, Clifford led Penn State in rushing, despite four running backs taking on carries. What was once a colossal question mark moving on from Trace McSorley suddenly doesn’t issue a ton of worries.

There’s confidence in Clifford — but Penn State has only gone through one phase right now. The schedule gets a bit tougher starting this week. The Lions are expected to handle Pittsburgh with ease, but you could never be so sure. Clifford and the offense must get off to a fast start on Saturday, so they don’t run into the same issues as last week and have actually to pay for them.