Penn State Football: 5 questions Nittany Lions must answer this spring

1. Quarterback Battle? 

All eyes this offseason will be on the quarterback position, as right now Sean Clifford stands to be the starter with redshirt freshman Ta’Quan Roberson poised to potentially vie for the role as well.

After an ugly start to the season that resulted in the benching of Clifford against Nebraska, and for the start of the Iowa game, he responded, leading four straight victories to end the season and looking more like the signal caller we saw in 2019 that led the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 record and a Cotton Bowl victory.

However, unless Mike Yurcich can tap into something with Clifford and cause giant leaps to be made, the Ohio native seems to have a ceiling, and one that might not mean being an elite team any time soon. We have only seen Roberson throw one pass in a few collegiate snaps, however the intrigue of his talent and potential have some fans wondering if it is time to give him the keys to the offense.

The elephant in the room is the transfer portal, and whether or not Franklin and staff want to look to a transfer to come in and potentially be the guy. As it stands, Tyler Shough from Oregon and Allen Bowman of Texas Tech are really the only legitimate starting quarterbacks in the portal, and it is unclear if either are truly an upgrade over what they have in the room currently.

Spring will be the first chance Yurcich gets the chance to evaluate the quarterbacks with his own eyes, and see how they are adapting to his offense. Coming out of spring, they need a definitive idea of who the guy is going into fall camp, or if maybe that guy isn’t on the roster right now.

An entire season of the Sean Clifford we saw over the final four games can get Penn State Football to 10-2, maybe even 11-1 next season. It might just not be enough to get over the proverbial hump to being an ‘elite’ program as James Franklin referenced after a soul crushing loss to Ohio State in 2018.