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Penn State football: Please stay on until the Sean Clifford ride has come to a complete stop

Luke Glusco

By Luke Glusco

Published:

Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t get off now. The ride operator insists that’s dangerous. Barely moving and essentially back where you started, you’re ready to hop off and move on to the shiny new attraction right over there. But this darn restraining bar seems to be stuck.

Suggestion: Take these final few moments to catch your breath and reflect on the Sean Clifford Experience.

Like the Comet at Hersheypark, this ride has grown old and rickety, having been weathered by rain and wind and snow. It’s been here seemingly forever, and — other than some brief shutdowns for maintenance — it’s been in continuous operation. The old reliable. The mainstay attraction.

You’ve come back again and again, some of you even bringing your kids.

Through the plunges and hairpin turns, you’ve held on for dear life. Sometimes you swore you were gonna be sick.

Familiarity has lessened the thrill, but you’ve kept coming back.

This thing has some hard-earned character, you must admit that.

“I can’t get mad at people being critical,” Clifford, in reflection mode, said after Penn State’s victory Saturday at Indiana. “And I won’t get mad at people being critical. I’m just blessed to be in the position that I am. I’m living out a dream that I’ve had for years and years and years. … I’m just the happiest dude.”

Ride it out

Yes, I want to see a bunch more test runs of 5-star freshman Drew Allar at quarterback over the No. 14 Nittany Lions’ final games this season. That shiny new ride, so fresh you’d say it had a baby face if you were to personify it, looks ready for a full-capacity public grand opening.

But corporate operator James Franklin is still consulting his experts, making sure they haven’t missed anything. Wouldn’t want to have to shut it down again after all the fanfare. Better to go through a few more low-stress trial runs, for safety’s sake.

In the meantime, let’s get Clifford his 10,000 career passing yards and allow him to chase a record 32 victories as the starter. Set the bar for the 18-year-old Allar.

Entering the 10K Club, which Clifford will do with just 115 yards Saturday at Beaver Stadium against Maryland, is no small feat. Not only has no one ever done it at Penn State, no one has ever done it at Ohio State! Or Michigan. In fact, only 6 men have done it at a Big Ten school. Ever.

Playing QB in the bad-weather B1G against some of the best defenses in the land presents unique challenges. This past Saturday, the wind and rain off Lake Michigan limited Heisman candidate CJ Stroud of Ohio State to 76 passing yards at Northwestern. Tanner Morgan, Minnesota’s 6th-year senior quarterback, started this season with more career yards than Clifford but now looks like a longshot to cross the 10K threshold. Injuries and a stagnant Gophers’ offense have held him back.

Clifford had one of the weekend’s better games, throwing for 229 yards before turning a blowout victory over to Allar.

It was the typical Clifford bumpy ride, a microcosm of his 4-year tenure as the Lions’ starter.

He threw a bad pick.

He forced a ball to tight end Brenton Strange and got away with it.

Whether that connection shows Clifford’s veteran savvy or poor decision-making, you can be the judge.

The numbers are impressive

But don’t judge too harshly.

Yes, Penn State will need a better offensive leader going forward, because the college game is more QB-centric than it’s ever been. And Allar, a 6-5, 240-pound 18-year-old already displaying zip and accuracy with his right arm, looks like that guy.

But Clifford ranks right up there with predecessor Trace McSorley and the big-name quarterbacks of Penn State’s glorious past.

Todd Blackledge, architect of the 1982 national championship season, threw 41 career interceptions, 10 more than Clifford, in 604 fewer pass attempts. Clifford will finish his career with the best completion percentage in school history among all who played a significant number of snaps at quarterback. Currently at 60.9%, he’ll join Daryll Clark (60.2%) as the only Penn State QBs who completed at least 60% of their throws.

For Penn State to join programs such as Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and Clemson at the elite level, Allar will have to bump up that number considerably.

A great teammate and leader

Allar will also need to direct his linemen and change plays at the line of scrimmage. He’ll have to develop rhythm and timing with his teammates. And he’ll have to command the locker room and get comfortable in from of microphones and cameras.

Some day, if all goes well, he’ll direct praise and attention to a veteran offensive lineman and a true freshman running back in a way that comes off as genuine and heartfelt.

Clifford’s mentorship might turn out to be a great tradeoff for a slight delay in Allar’s first start. When he does debut as “the guy,” Allar should be ready.

Until then, enjoy the Sean Clifford Experience a few more times. Accept that the plunges and twists are going to make your heart race, even though you know, by now, that they’re coming.

It is both the highs and the lows, the unexpected twists and turns survived together, that create fond memories.

Be patient and and enjoy the moment. You can’t get off just yet anyway.

Luke Glusco

Luke Glusco is a Penn State graduate and veteran journalist. He covers Penn State and occasionally writes about other Big Ten programs and topics. He also serves as the primary copy editor for Saturday Tradition.