Clifford Claims Big Ten Weekly Honor

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: September 30, 2019

Courtesy of GoPSU Athletics

Sophomore quarterback shares Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week accolades

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford (Cincinnati, Ohio) has been selected as the Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after a stellar outing at Maryland Friday night. He is the first Penn State player to win offensive weekly honors since Miles Sanders against Illinois last year. Clifford is the first Penn State quarterback to claim conference weekly accolades since Trace McSorley in 2016 (Michigan State).

Clifford, who shares offensive honors with Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan, was 26-for-31 for 398 yards and three touchdowns with seven rushes for 54 yards and a touchdown in the 59-0 win at Maryland. The effort was Clifford’s first career 300-yard game and the 40^th in Penn State history, while his 398 yards rank third in Penn State single-game history, behind Christian Hackenberg (454; vs. UCF, 2014) and Zack Mills (299, vs. Iowa, 2002). The sophomore tallied 287 passing yards in the first half to break the Penn State record of 258 yards by Trace McSorley against Georgia State in 2017.

The Cincinnati native completed his first nine passes of the game, totaling 166 yards and two touchdowns. He completed passes to 11 different receivers in the first half.Clifford’s 58-yard touchdown pass to KJ Hamler is his longest pass of the season, topping a 56-yard pass to Jahan Dotson against Buffalo. Clifford also used his feet with an 8-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for his first career rushing TD.

Clifford has 18 completions of 20 or more yards this season. With 54 rushing yards versus the Terps, Clifford is now 14th all-time at Penn State with 164 career rushing yards by a quarterback. He passed Doug Strang (129 yards, 1981-84) and Tony Sacca (131 yards, 1988-91). Clifford had his streak of 91-straight attempts without an interception snapped in the second quarter.

The Nittany Lions’ remaining home schedule includes Big Ten games against Purdue (Oct. 5; noon – Homecoming), Michigan (Oct. 19 – Penn State White Out), Indiana (Nov. 15) and Rutgers (Nov. 30 – Senior Day).