Clifford overcomes rough start for Nittany Lions

Sean Clifford admitted he had a rough start to Saturday night’s Big Ten game at Iowa.

Looking very much like a young quarterback in the first quarter, Clifford got off to an 0-for-5 start and took two sacks before helping to lead Penn State to a 17-12 victory at Kinnick Stadium.

“This was definitely the first time that I really had a lot of adversity with myself,” he said. “I really had to dig deep. The first quarter was very, very unacceptable for my standard. I’m going to learn a lot from that first quarter.

“But I’m proud of how our offense moved the ball in the second quarter and the second half. We took care of business in the end with the four-minute drill. I’m just happy with how we pulled this one out.”

Clifford finished 12-for-24 passing for 117 yards and one touchdown, a 22-yarder to KJ Hamler in the second quarter. He carried 16 times for 52 yards, including a critical 11yard gain on third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter.

“I think he was a little jittery (early),” Clifford said. “But he came through. He made some tough decisions. He showed he’s a warrior. He sucked it up the whole way.”

Most importantly, Clifford did not commit a turnover, despite facing one of the top defenses in the country.

In his first season as the starter, he’s completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,560 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’s also run for 252 yards and two touchdowns. He still leads the Big Ten in passing yards and total offense.

He has thrown two intercep