Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford happy to finally ‘play loose’
Share this post:
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is a pretty deep thinker when it comes to his position.
But he doesn’t necessarily ruminate over the X’s and O’s of being a signal caller.
He’s much more profound about it.
“One (term) that I’ve heard used before is your ‘flow state,’ ” Clifford said during a video conference with media Saturday. “I’m actually minoring in psychology, and one thing that we’ve talked about is when an athlete or anybody really gets in their state of flow. It’s definitely a game-changer, and it’s fun when you get into that state and you can just kind of play loose.
“I feel like I personally haven’t been in that. Last year, I was. After a couple of losses this year, I feel like it’s been tough to find that, but (Saturday), I just kind of let loose and had fun with my teammates. I felt like I was back to the Sean that I used to be.”
On Saturday, Clifford directed his team to its first victory of a disappointing season, 27-17 at Michigan.
Clifford made most of his impact on the ground, rushing for 73 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. He also had 163 yards passing with 17 completions on 28 attempts.
It wasn’t necessarily the biggest win of Clifford’s career, which has included victories in two of three bowl games. But it was certainly significant given Penn State’s struggles this season.
“Every win is just fun,” Clifford said. “I don’t know where I’d rank it. It’s just a good win. … It’s definitely meaningful for this team just because of the adversity that we’ve fought through. A lot of these guys just keep battling and keep coming back. Nobody’s given up at all, and it showed today. I guess that’s one reason why this was so fun to win. Winning is hard and losing is harder. (Saturday) was definitely fun.”
There was little in the way of fun in Penn State’s first five games. Individually, Clifford’s struggles — he leads the Big Ten with eight interceptions — led to him temporarily losing his starting job in a 41-21 home loss to Iowa on Nov. 21.
Despite that setback, Clifford’s confidence never wavered.
“I have not and will never doubt myself,” Clifford said. “Because I know how this team works, and I know how hard I work. There’s not one person or anybody that can tell me differently. So it’s just that. I know the talent that we have. And I don’t really care what anybody else has to say about it.”
At 1-5, Penn State is bound to finish the season with a losing record for the first time since 2004 when it was 4-7. But with two games remaining, Clifford wants to do anything and everything within his power to change the flow of Penn State’s season in its final.
“Just doing what the team needs me to do,” Clifford said. “That’s pretty much just the basics of it. Whatever the team needs me to do, whether that’s playing a whole game, sit the bench. Whatever we’ve got to do to get a win, I’m going to do. That’s just the player that I feel like I’ve always been. I’m just so happy for these guys to get a (win).
“The vibe hasn’t changed. Obviously, we’ve been disappointed with the outcomes in the last five (games). But the work ethic and everything hasn’t changed at all. And it will not change. We’ll just continue to keep grinding and keep trusting these guys. I know how hard they work.”