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James Franklin addresses Sean Clifford’s performance from Week 5 win over Northwestern
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No. 11 Penn State escapes the Week 5 matchup at home with a 17-7 win over Northwestern in a weather-induced soaked field that gave senior Sean Clifford one of the worst performances in his collegiate career.
Clifford finished the game completing 10-of-20 passes for 140 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a QBR of 37. In his 42 previous games played for Penn State, Clifford has 10 games where he threw for under 140 yards, but only three of them were games where he had 20 or more passing attempts.
After the game, Franklin confirmed the outing was not up to Clifford’s standard. While the head coach is not going to let the weather be an excuse, Franklin still felt Clifford’s job as a runner and lead the offense were solid.
"He did a great job in the run game. He did a great job managing the clock… But I don't think this was one of Sean's best games. And just like I am for the running backs, I'm not going to allow the weather to be an excuse," Franklin continued.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 1, 2022
There were 8 total turnovers in the game, with 5 coming from Penn State.
Despite the troubles passing the ball, Penn State head coach James Franklin said he and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich never considered switching out Clifford for Drew Allar.
Franklin says neither he nor Mike Yurcich discussed bringing QB Drew Allar in to replace Sean Clifford.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 1, 2022
We’ll see how Clifford looks in his next game. Penn State will definitely need him to be at his best when going up against the best teams the B1G East has to offer.