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Penn State Football records that could fall in 2022

By Nick Kreiser

PISCATAWAY, NJ - NOVEMBER 17: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks to pass alongside Sean Clifford #14 before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at HighPoint.com Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - NOVEMBER 17: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks to pass alongside Sean Clifford #14 before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at HighPoint.com Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /
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Virtually every season, some Penn State Football record of some kind is broken, and I don’t see any reason why this year would be any different.

Last season, Jahan Dotson broke Deon Butler’s single game receiving yards record when he torched Maryland for 242 yards. In 2020, Pat Freiermuth broke Mike Gesicki’s record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end.

In 2019, a rushing record that will be discussed later in this article was broken, and the same could be said about numerous passing records set back in 2018.

So, let’s take a look at some Penn State Football records that could be broken in the upcoming campaign.

Penn State Football passing records

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – NOVEMBER 06: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions throws a pass against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on November 06, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – NOVEMBER 06: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions throws a pass against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on November 06, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

Sean Clifford is on pace to break every major career passing record for a Penn State quarterback. It obviously helps to be in the program for six seasons, but it’s still noteworthy.

Trace McSorley is currently the leader in passing yards (9,899) and passing touchdowns (77), and Clifford is third in yards with 7,839 and second in touchdowns with 62. As long as he doesn’t miss a significant amount of time with an injury, Clifford will break both of those records.

For a comparison on their playing time, McSorley started 40 games in his Penn State Football career, and to this point Clifford has started 33. Additionally, McSorley attempted 1,215 passes during his time with the Nittany Lions, and so far, Clifford has attempted 1,005.

Trace McSorley is also the all-time leader in completions (720), while Sean Clifford currently sits in third place with 607.

However, Clifford is currently the school’s all-time leaders in completion percentage (minimum of 100 attempts) at 60.4%. Daryll Clark is in second at 60.2%, so as long as No. 14 remains above that threshold, he will also hold onto that school record.

Finally, it’s a bit more of a long shot, but Clifford has a realistic chance to break Trace McSorley’s single season passing touchdown record of 29, which he set back in 2016. Clifford threw 23 touchdowns in 2019 despite missing half of the Ohio State game and all of the Rutgers game. Had he been healthy for those games, he could have possibly thrown three or four more and come close to that single season mark; so he’s certainly capable of breaking it.

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