Sean Clifford Named Starter vs. Illinois

Surprise! After a week of speculation following Sean Clifford’s injury against Iowa, it was Clifford who was named Penn State’s starter on Saturday against Illinois.

Clifford suffered the injury in the second quarter of the Nittany Lions’ loss to the Hawkeyes and was replaced by Ta’Quan Roberson for the last half-plus of the contest. Roberson struggled mightily and found himself in a fight with true freshman Christian Veilleux for the starting job against the Illini.

After a bye week, Clifford returned to practice earlier this week and the three quarterbacks split first-team reps evenly according to James Franklin. That left the door open for the senior’s return against Illinois and when the starting lineups went up on the Beaver Stadium video board, it was a familiar face announced as QB1.