Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Penn State Football

Penn State QB Sean Clifford Make Surprise Start against Illinois

Sean Clifford
Photo by Penn State Athletics: QB Sean Clifford looks to run in Saturday's game against Maryland.

Fans got a pleasant surprise about 20 minutes before kickoff on Saturday as Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford was announced as the starter against Illinois. Clifford left the game in the second quarter at Iowa two weeks ago with an undisclosed injury, and had the bye week to recover.

Lions backup quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson played the rest of the way against the Hawkeyes, and had a lackluster performance of 7-for-21 for 34 yards and two interceptions.

The question for the last two weeks was if we would see Clifford on Saturday or not. Many thought that they would hold him in an emergency situation, or not play him at all.

Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.

For the season, Clifford has passed for 1,482 yards on 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Many believe that the small chance the Lions have at the College Football Playoff lies on the shoulders of Clifford’s availability.

Penn State suffered many injuries throughout the game two weeks ago, including key defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher. Mustipher was declared out for the season.

Get NSN in your Inbox

Enter your email address to get notifications of new posts by email.

More from Nittany Sports Now

Penn State Basketball

0s Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft, sat down with Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times and with Audrey Snyder of Inside The...

Penn State Football

0s Penn State athletics hasn’t raised as much as it would have liked to on the Beaver Stadium revitalization project. Nope. It’s raised ....

Penn State Women's Basketball

0s In 1980, Joe Paterno hired the only head coach during his tenure as Penn State’s athletic director. Maureen Theresa Muth “Rene” Portland went...

Big Ten

0s The 2026 Big Ten Football Media Poll is in to coincide with Big Ten Media Days, and Penn State is in a modest...