No Change Yet at Quarterback for Penn State
Penn State coach James Franklin on Tuesday provided no update on quarterback Sean Clifford's availability this week but suggested that Clifford will start against Minnesota if healthy Saturday.
Clifford left Penn State's 41-17 loss to Michigan with what Franklin called an injury that sidelined him in the fourth quarter. Franklin typically does not discuss injuries unless they're season-ending, so not addressing it suggests that the injury isn't.
Penn State returns to practice Tuesday with the same weekly plan at quarterback, Franklin said.
"Nothing has changed with the plan or the model at this stage," Franklin said.
Clifford went 7-for-19 for 120 yards against Michigan and rushed for another 74 yards, including 62 on a run that set up Penn State's only offensive touchdown. For the season, Clifford's completion rate (59 percent), quarterback rating (137.37) and average passing yards per game (191.7) are lower than his career totals.
Freshman Drew Allar replaced Clifford in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-10 for 37 yards. Asked about external calls for Allar to replace Clifford, Franklin said, "Sean has earned the right to be on the field."
"There are a lot of different things that I would say," Franklin said. "Number one, that's the wrong message, that's the wrong signal, and Sean has earned the right to be on the field. That doesn't mean that Drew hasn't done some good things, and would we love to get him an opportunity and continue to grow him and to continue to develop him for his future? No doubt about it.
... There are tons of examples, not only at Penn State but across the country, where you do everything you possibly can to win the next week. And I think some of those approaches aren't necessarily about winning this week, in my opinion."
Penn State also has watched its explosive-play passing production drop this season for a variety of reasons that involve the quarterbacks, the pass-catchers and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
Franklin reiterated that he wants to take, and complete, more deep shots downfield.
"It's both," Franklin said. "We've got to hit more of the ones we call. We could call a few more, but the challenge is, if you take a shot on first down and you hit it, then it's a great call. If you don't, now you're on second-and-long and you're increasing the chances of being on third-and-long, so that's always the fine balance between those things.
"Then the other thing is, you don't want to always be taking shots on second-and-one when everybody in the stadium knows that's a shot down. So it's that fine line between those two things, and you're always most effective when you're being explosive and creating most of your first downs on first and second down before you get to third down."
No. 16 Penn State (5-1) hosts Minnesota on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
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