PSU has cleanest first half in years
Clifford emerges as game manager at quarterback
Four postgame reads from Penn State’s 27-17 win Saturday over Michigan, the Nittany Lions’ first in AnnArbor since 2009.
1. That might be the cleanest first half Penn State has played in a couple of years.
About the only quibble you could have was Parker Washington’s fumble just after his calf had touched the turf that was originally ruled a scoop-n-score for Michigan DBJemonGreen. It was overturned thanks to an astute examination by the replay official.
But otherwise, the notoriously slow-starting Nittany Lions played a crisp and focused first half. They avoided penalties, took care of the ball, avoided rash decisions and basically acted like a winning team. Act as if ye have faith, and faith shall be given. The result was a 17-7 halftime lead that actually could have been larger except for one needlessly cautious spike at the close of the first half. Which brings us to.
2. It maybetimeforJamesFranklin to enroll in an online time management course.
Honestly, it’s like every week now, there’s some colossal gaffe that either tangibly limits the likelihood of PSU points or hands them to the opponent. This time, it was the inexplicable decision to clock the ball by quarterback Sean Clifford with a first-and-goal at the 5.
WhenClifford scrambled for 10 yards and a first down at the Michigan 5, the Lions still had 36 seconds left and one timeout.
Let me repeat that: 36 seconds and a timeout, first-and-goal at the 5. This, mind you, was two plays after a timeout and sideline discussion and one play after an incompletion in the end zone.
The clock momentarily stopped to move the chains, Clifford and his teammates un-piled, prepared to line up and looked to the sideline with the clock still at :36, ready to run a play. The ball was whistled set, the clock started and Franklin and 3rd-string quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson (both hooked by headset to OC Kirk Ciarrocca in the booth) both immediately gave the spike sign.
What? Why?! But Clifford did what he was told and clocked the ball, wasting a play for absolutely no good reason. Following were the obligatory fade route, incomplete to Jahan Dotson, and a Clifford toss-away under pressure. And it was fourth down. A good chance at 7 was basically turned into 3.
3. The PSU next assistant who needs to be firewalled might be
It’s a fact of life these days, no matter whether you’re Kent State or Alabama, that it’s a fertile market for assistant coaches. We know that COVID austerity will be a factor. But valuable assistants will not lose much bargaining power, in my opinion, even this winter. They are the lifeblood of any program and they must be compensated or someone else will be happy to.
Penn State running backs coach Seider will be a target. He’s among PSU’s best recruiters, is an absolute ace in his home state of Florida, and this year has proven he can prepare even raw rookies for impromptu runs. Even when Journey Brown and Noah Cain were lost by the season’s first series of downs, Devyn Ford was ready to produce. And when Ford was lost for the Michigan game with an injury and a personal family issue, Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes played like vets. Lee rushed for 134 yards, virtually all of it between the tackles.
Every young back Penn State has had to run out there on short notice has produced like a seasoned upperclassman. They’ve gotten tough yards, protected the ball and broken tackles to bust some long runs. That doesn’t just happen, it’s preparation.
Seider was given the extra title of “run game coordinator” this season, which suggests Franklin managed to have his salary bumped. I’d say another title might be in order.
4. Sean Clifford rose from his own ashes to become a classic game manager.
Every quarterback wants to be a gunslinger. But unless they are recruited to a certain type of program — Wisconsin and Iowa come to mind — they often must learn by trial and error if they’re really more suited to be a management type. Penn State’s junior seems to be learning on the job how to become Darrell Bevell. And that’s not all bad, believe me.
In case Bevell predates your Big Ten football fandom window, he was the first quarterback of the renaissance of Wisconsin football in the early ‘90s ignited by Barry Alvarez. He wasn’t fast, wasn’t strong of arm and generally graded low in wow factor across the board. He just knew how to hand off to Brent Moss, make wise decisions and throw prudent passes with general accuracy. He never tried to do too much but could make a pressure play whenyou needed it.
With Bevell and UW’s shocking 1993 B1G title and Rose Bowl win over UCLA began a string of such game-manager Wisconsin quarterbacks, interrupted only by transfer Russell Wilson in 2012 and Graham Mertz this year.
Clifford is ideally such a specimen. And he played the role perfectly on Saturday, reading the defense, making
the easy play provided rather than the riskier tough one, throwing the ball away when warranted, getting help from his O-line and ground game (which is mandatory for a game manager) and making the accurate, third-down throw when needed.
Clifford was Darrell Bevell, astute, alert and calculating. That’s certainly not something he has been during a disastrous, turnover-prone first half of this season. But I think it’s something he can be if his offensive line and running game continue to develop.
Being Bevell might not be sexy, but it can have its benefits. The real Bevell just slid into a pretty good job. When Matt Patricia was fired by the Detroit Lions yesterday, longtime NFLoffensive coordinator Bevell was named their interim head coach.