Blue White Illustrated

December 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

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1 0 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State needed 8 yards if it was going to extend its first posses- sion of the game against Mary- land, so sixth-year senior quarterback Sean Clifford took the shotgun snap and flipped a short pass to Brenton Strange. The redshirt junior tight end caught the ball in front of Terrapins safety Glendon Miller, finding just enough room along the right sideline to turn up field. The 16-yard completion gave PSU a first down and set the stage for a touch- down catch by Strange four plays later. It also gave Clifford something else: Penn State's all-time passing yardage record. He had gone into the game with 9,884 career passing yards, the second- highest total in school history behind only Trace McSorley's 9,899 yards. A former four-star prospect from Cin- cinnati, Clifford had begun his career auspiciously, throwing to Brandon Polk for a 34-yard touchdown against Pitt in 2018 on his very first collegiate passing attempt. The catch-and-run by Strange was less dramatic, but it was a milestone nonetheless. That same afternoon, on a 33-yard completion to sophomore tight end Theo Johnson in the third quarter, Clif- ford earned another distinction, be- coming the first Penn Stater to eclipse 10,000 career passing yards. With a 157- yard passing effort the following week against Rutgers and a 202-yard showing on Senior Day against Michigan State, Clifford has 10,382 passing yards in his career. After breaking McSorley's record in the 30-0 shutout of the Terps on Nov. 12, Clifford reflected on his place in school history, but only briefly. More important than his spot in the PSU quarterbacking pantheon, he said, were the people who helped put him there. "The best part about it, honestly, is that it's not about the records," Clifford said. "It's about the journey. It's about the guys that I came in contact with. "When I was told about it at the end of the game, I honestly forgot about it. It was more so [a moment for] just think- ing back to all the things that I've been through. Just appreciating the moment and everybody who has had my back." As a four-year starter and a benefi- ciary of the NCAA's decision to award an extra year of eligibility to athletes who were impacted by the COVID re- strictions of 2020-21, Clifford has had more games in which to rack up num- bers than his predecessors did. McSor- ley was a three-year starter who played in 47 games and started 40; Clifford has played in 50 games and started 45. One factor that has kept Clifford from being fully embraced by Penn State fans is the team's 2-6 record against Ohio State and Michigan during his tenure as starter. The Nittany Lions defeated the Wolverines in 2019 and '20, but have lost their past two matchups in that se- ries, and they dropped all four of Clif- SEAN CLIFFORD BECOMES PSU'S ALL-TIME PASSING LEADER M A T T H E R B | M A T T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M NEWS & NOTES Clifford has averaged 207.8 yards passing per game during his five-year playing career at Penn State. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE

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