What is Penn State’s ceiling with Sean Clifford at quarterback?

Penn State’s season will kick off exactly six weeks from today, and the fate of their season likely rests on the right arm of their sixth-year quarterback.

Sean Clifford enters his fourth season as the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback, and throughout that time he was seen some highs, a lot of lows, and has endured a ton of criticism – much of which has come from folks that have never set foot on a Division I football field.

While the criticism over the past two years is somewhat understandable, the most frustrating part for many fans (though many might not admit it) is that Sean Clifford is a far better quarterback than what he showed in 2020 and 2021. We’ve seen it.

So, what is Penn State’s ceiling with the self-proclaimed “oldest man in college football” under center?

Well, it’s hard to think it could be any lower than what we saw them do in 2019 when they began the season 8-0 and ranked as high as fourth in the country, and finished the season 11-2 with a New Years’ Six bowl win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.

Many might scoff at the thought of the Nittany Lions reaching double digit wins with Clifford running the offense, but they’ve done it. So who’s to say they can’t do it again?

To put a ceiling on a team that is any lower than what their head coach and starting quarterback have already done together is foolish.

It would also be foolish of me to not recognize what Sean Clifford had around him in 2019.

Offensively in 2019, Clifford had a dominant running game at his disposal. The Nittany Lions’ three primary backs that year (Journey Brown, Noah Cain, and Devyn Ford) averaged just shy of six yards per carry. He also had one of the best tight ends in the country at his disposal.

The wide receivers that season, however, may not be as good as what they project to be this year. Clifford’s top two wideouts that year were KJ Hamler and a yet to break out (but still very good) Jahan Dotson. Outside of those two, there was not much to write home about.

This year, the duo of Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley will almost certainly be better than that of Hamler and Dotson. The depth will be great as well.

The 2019 defense was also outstanding. Led by Micah Parsons and Yetur Gross-Matos, they allowed just 16.8 points per game; good enough for sixth in the country in that category.

Can the 2022 defense match that?

It’s hard to say for sure, but the core four of PJ Mustipher, Curtis Jacobs, Ji’Ayir Brown, and Joey Porter Jr. will certainly give them a chance.

Regardless of whether or not Sean Clifford will have quite as good of a team around him this year as he did in 2019, the fact remains that Penn State can once again reach the 11-2 mark with Clifford as their quarterback.

Please note the difference between “can” and “will”. 

Clifford’s career bests in both passing yards per attempt (8.3) and touchdown to interception ratio (23 to 7) both came in 2019, while his career high in completion percentage came last year when he completed 61% of his passes.

If he can put that together and continue to build on it in year two of Mike Yurcich’s offense, a top 10 finish for the Nittany Lions is absolutely a possibility.

Clifford has had some excellent games over the past few seasons, such as his 280 yard and two touchdown performance against Auburn last season when he completed an eye-popping 87.5% of his passes.

He’s also made some great throws throughout his career. The most recent that comes to mind his Russell Wilson-esque “drop it in the breadbasket” throw to Parker Washington streaking down the right side on the first drive of the Outback Bowl.

Along with all that, he’s also made some head scratching throws and decisions, such as his two interceptions that came in that same game.

Point is, Sean Clifford is a quarterback that has a relatively high ceiling, but also a low floor.

If he spends most of his time up around his ceiling this season, Penn State can absolutely get back to a New Years’ Six bowl and finish with 11 wins for the fourth time in seven seasons.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine the ceiling with Sean Clifford being any higher than 11-2, because he just simply hasn’t proven yet that it should be (fingers crossed that he proves myself and many others wrong, though), but the ceiling certainly should not be any lower than 11-2.