The term ‘game manager’ can be derogatory in football when it comes to quarterbacks. It implies a lack of skill and the ability to do the basics but nothing all that special otherwise. Go out and throw the ball, don’t make mistakes and don’t take chances.
It’s a bit a subjective what a ‘game manager’ looks like since quarterbacking is quarterbacking, but if it means making safe throws and keeping the chains moving, then Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford has turned into a game manager.
‘The first five games, I turned the ball over trying to do too much,’ Clifford said after Penn State’s 23-7 win over Rutgers on Saturday. ‘And not managing the game or trying to make plays that I mean -I think that I can still make- but there’s just times where it’s like ‘just check the ball down’ or you don’t have to force that. But instead, I was forcing throws up trying to get too creative.’
Clifford’s struggles have been well documented at this point and while Clifford acquitted himself nicely during Penn State’s 2019 11-2 season he came into 2020 looking to improve his game and take the next step. Instead, the junior managed to take something of a step backwards, his throws haven’t always been on target and his nine interceptions put him atop the league in an unflattering category. Two strip-sacks returned for touchdowns doing even less in his favor.
But while Clifford may have been a constant in Penn State’s losing this season, he has also been a constant in the reasons why the Nittany Lions have slowly turned the corner and headed back into the win column.
Over the past two games Clifford has completed 32 of 50 pass attempts for a 64% completion rate. While his 296 yards of total passing is not eye-popping, and a tipped attempt turned interception on Saturday goes on his record, Clifford has looked far more composed, far happier to take what the defense gives him.
And there’s value in that, because there are worse things than completing passes and moving the ball down the field. It may not have the panache of previous seasons, but for two straight weeks it has resulted in wins. A far cry from how Penn State’s year had started. More importantly, the lack of turnovers means no longer putting Penn State’s defense in difficult situations. The Nittany Lions might have their own issues on that side of the ball, none of which are helped by having their backs up against the wall as soon as they take the field.
Good quarterback play helps everyone.
‘I feel like right now I’m playing, I’m managing the game within myself and playing the way I know how to play and taking the shots but not being greedy,’ Clifford said, prior to the interception he had completed seven of his previous eight passes with the only incompletion a drop by Parker Washington.. ‘It’s making sure that we’re not putting our defense in a bad situation. Making sure that you’re picking up the third down conversion, and so forth.’
‘We’ve just grown the past seven weeks.’
Of course Clifford will have to improve no matter what. It stands to reason he will be the main man once against in 2021 unless Penn State were to go shopping on the transfer market. Even on Saturday a fairly safe and secure outing wasn’t without its mistakes, Clifford was high on a few of his missed throws, a dangerous place to leave the ball. Better to be in the ground, than up for grabs.
‘I thought early in the first half I thought he played really well,’ Penn State coach James Franklin said. ‘You know, obviously the turnovers…when Sean missed today he missed high, which which puts you in jeopardy of tipped passes and things like that, but I thought early on he looked very comfortable. I look very confident managing the game, but we’ve got to do it consistently.’
The good news for Franklin and Clifford is that consistency means doing the same thing more than once, and so far Clifford has managed two-straight weeks of solid quarterback play. Even if he’s managing the game, he’s winning, and the Nittany Lions will take that.
