Penn State coach James Franklin unpacked the Nittany Lions’ quarterback situation Tuesday afternoon, stopping short of saying a change was in the works while leaving the door open for that possibility in the coming weeks.
“It’s not a decision that I make on my own,” Franklin said. “I want to, whenever there are big decisions like that, I want to make sure that I’m not too close to it. So I had a pretty good conversation with Mike Yurcich obviously. Talked to Manny Diaz about [and Ken Whisenhunt] about it. Talked to Danny O’Brien. I talked to the guys that have been a college or NFL head coach before. We’re going to look at who gives us the best chance to be 1-0 this week and go from there. And, whoever that is based on this week’s practice and preparation. we’ll go with. And, that’s really kind of how it’s been all year long.”
Franklin also noted that he and Clifford were set to meet at some point this week – a meeting that Clifford requested for Monday but had not happened as of Tuesday. The sixth-year player finds himself once again on the receiving end of criticism having been involved in four separate turnovers during Penn State’s eventual loss to No. 2 Ohio State this past weekend. In spite of the turnovers, Clifford made several key plays throughout the course of the afternoon that helped keep the Nittany Lions in the game and eventually take the lead. As has become the reoccurring theme, the longtime starting quarterback left Saturday’s game both an instrumental part of Penn State’s success while having a hand in the majority of its offensive miscues.
“If you go back and watch the tape, the guy played his tail off and made some really good plays in that game,” Franklin added. “But obviously, there’s four to six plays that we got to get rid of.”
For Franklin the challenge exists as he looks to help guide the Nittany Lions to as many victories as possible in 2022 while also preparing the program for the years ahead. Penn State finds itself on favorable footing to win 10 regular season games this year, a mark of no small significance for a program that won a total of 11 games over the past two seasons. Additionally, the presence of true freshman quarterback Drew Allar gives a two-loss Penn State team an opportunity to prepare for the future with its biggest goals reasonably in the rearview mirror. The result is a push-and-pull between what is in the best interest of Penn State this weekend against Indiana and what could be in the best interest of next year’s Penn State team as it kicks off the 2023 campaign with a new quarterback.
This is ultimately the overarching challenge all college football coaches face, an obligation to put forth a good faith effort during the season they are currently in while not losing sight of the future. For most positions rotations and in-game changes give a whole host of players an opportunity to shine without carrying the majority of their positional load. At quarterback that is a far less straightforward thing to navigate. In some respects Franklin can’t manage his college football team like an NFL one. If he opts to play the quarterback who may very well give Penn State an on-field disadvantage this year for the sake of the next season, Franklin risks losing his locker room and to a certain extent sends a mixed message about the importance of any given game if he’s willing to play a player that might technically decrease Penn State’s odds of winning.
While playing a young Allar over a polarizing Clifford might not invite such a stark contrast of results, it certainly complicates things. All of this under the public microscope that often neglects to note that Allar’s ability to read, digest and manage an offense against a Big Ten defense is very much a speculative endeavor for those not attending practice. While his strengths have been put on display in passing, his weaknesses are almost entirely unknown to the public eye. Clifford’s miscues might handicap Penn State at times, but there’s nothing to say Allar doesn’t come – in his current form – with even more shortcomings of his own. In turn Clifford could still be Penn State’s best bet to win, the ultimate charge of the entire coaching endeavor in the college ranks.
“There’s still a ton of football left to be played. And whoever’s going to give us a chance to be 1-0 this week, and have a chance to win a bunch of games this year, for all the guys in the locker room, that’s who we’re going to go with.,” Franklin said. “[..] I have a responsibility to the guys in the locker room, as well as the coaches, to give us the best chance to win as many games as we possibly can. What you’d like to do, at the same time, is getting better and building for your future.”
So could Allar start this weekend? It seems more likely than it did a week ago, but that doesn’t make an obvious choice for some any less complex for Franklin and his staff.
