Penn State benches Clifford, falls to 0-4 with loss at Nebraska

Penn State benched quarterback Sean Clifford in the second quarter and was down, 27-6, at halftime then clawed back into the game before falling to Nebraska, 30-23, at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. Saturday.

The loss moved Penn State, which began the season ranked No. 8 in the country, to 0-4 for the first time since 2001. 

The first half featured may of the same issues that have plagued the Nittany Lions, including a defense unable to tackle and keep the Huskers off the scoreboard, as well as Clifford's struggles. 

He continued his regression with an abysmal start, throwing an interception on the first Penn State drive. The interception led to a field goal for a Huskers; later, a Clifford fumble and the scoop-and-score that followed not only sealed his fate for the afternoon, but gave Nebraska a 24-3 lead. 

"Turnovers continue to be a problem and not only turnovers, but turnovers for touchdowns," James Franklin said.

It was the second week in a row in which a Clifford fumble ended up being turned into a touchdown by the opponent, and both put the game away. This time, it led to Clifford being benched for backup Will Levis.

"Where we were at in that game, you know, with the turnovers, with what's gone on this season so far, we had to make that change," Franklin said.

The benching of Clifford was the spark the Nittany Lions needed on both sides of the ball, as Levis entered the game and nearly led Penn State to an improbable comeback. He led the Nittany Lions on four scoring drives, with two resulting in touchdowns and the others in Jake Pinegar field goals. 

"There's no doubt about it. He went in and gave us a spark," Franklin said. "He made plays in the passing game. I thought he did a good job managing the game overall and he made some good throws. We're going to have to build on that."

It was the first significant playing time Levis has had all year with the starters, even in practice. And despite that lack of repetitions with the first group, he came in and gave Penn State what it needed: A chance. 

"Coach (Tyler) Bowen just came up to me and told me I was up," Levis said. "I just got ready and knew I was going to be up for that next drive and then the first couple of series, just going out there and executing."

It was the execution and game management the Nittany Lions have desperately needed this year, and something with which Clifford has struggled mightily. The decision to go with Levis over Clifford undoubtedly was difficult, but following the benching, Clifford was in every offensive huddle and gave Levis advice throughout the remainder of the game. 

"We have that relationship," Levis said. "Whenever he's in, I'm going to be giving him feedback on what I see out there, and vice versa. There's no kind of feeling of negative feelings toward one another at all, and always for the good of the team."

That type of relationship should allow for a peaceful transition, should Levis be named the starter against Iowa next Saturday. Franklin was noncommittal about that. 

"We're not going to name a starting quarterback right after a game before discussing it as a staff and before evaluating the tape," he said.

Levis did more than enough to keep the job, going 14-for-31 for 219 yards while adding 61 yards on the ground. Penn State dominated the statistics in nearly every category, yet was unable to come out victorious because of the turnovers and lack of defensive production early in the game. 

"I'm completely confident in my abilities and I have been for the last couple of seasons," Levis said. "It's not my choice. It's not my call but I mean, it doesn't affect how I'm going to be preparing and I'm not going to be caught up in that or trying to make my case, because at the end of the day, what I say has no effect on the decision."

Levis and his performance gave a spark to the defense as well as the offense. 

"I love what he brings to the game. He's a tough runner, smart and he believes in himself," defensive lineman Jayson Oweh said. "He gave us the spark that we need because we knew he was going to give us all out on the offensive side, so we had to give all-out on the defensive side. That's the type of guy Will is, he comes in and provides a spark."

Unfortunately for Levis, he came in after the Penn State defense had been performing in a less-than-stellar manner, giving up a touchdown on the first series of the game to Nebraska and freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey.

"If you look back at us in general, opening drives is an area we need to get better. That's something me and Coach (Brent) Pry talked about in the offseason, opening drives and people having a script against us," Franklin said. "We've typically done that since we've been here, where we would have been able to get everybody adjusted, calmed down and get an idea what they're trying to do and go from there. Obviously, this year, it's made things even more challenging."

The Nittany Lions held Nebraska to 95 yards of total offense and three points in the second half, and if the turnovers are taken out of the statistics, the result of this game would've been much different. 

 "We were able to get some sacks in the second half and some turnovers, which is another area that we haven't done a good enough job," Franklin said. "We haven't been creating big plays on the defensive side of the ball either with the turnovers, so not only do you have the offense turning the ball over, but us not getting enough of them on defense. It's not a winning combination."

It was all for naught, as Penn State came up short when it mattered most. The Nittany Lions had two possessions while down seven with the ball in the red zone and were unable to come away with points.

"Red-zone offense is about running the ball and being detailed in the passing game. All the windows are shrunk down, so it magnifies," Franklin said. "We didn't make enough plays. We didn't put the ball in a position where our guy had a legitimate chance to get it or you're going to get the PI (pass interference)."

The lack of reps for Levis with the starters is one reason for struggling in the red zone, but Nebraska made plays when it had to in order to seal its first win of the season. Penn State is still searching for its, and until this season, failure and losing weren't something Franklin and company have been accustomed to.

"For the last four years, we've been pretty successful." Franklin said. "This year, obviously, we're not making enough plays and we're not playing winning football when it comes to turnovers. It's been challenging to overcome, but we've played a winning brand of football here for four years."

With the lack of success on both sides of the ball, blame can be directed all around the program, including at Pry, who leads the defense and has been by Franklin's side since they were at Vanderbilt. After the game, Franklin tip-toed around any criticism of Pry.

"All of us, the head coach and every assistant and every person in the program, obviously we're not doing a good enough job. That starts with me," Franklin said. "We've all got to do our jobs, but I also know over the last seven years here at Penn State, (and) over the last ten years, we've played really good defense around here."

• It wasn't all terrible for the Nittany Lions, which couldn't be said following some of the other losses. The young stable of backs seemed to finally figure it out, as Penn State rushed for 245 yards.

"Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes both did some good things," Franklin said. "Devyn Ford did some good things and obviously, Will was able to make plays with his legs. We were more physical up front. We were more consistent up front and again you look at the stats, the stats kind of tell a different story than how the game came out."

• Levis hitting the field provided quite a bit of energy to a team that seemed to be going through the motions in the first half. It was the energy the program needed, but to win games, Penn State will need to sustain that energy level for four quarters. 

"We just have to stay more consistent with our energy," tight end Pat Freiermuth said. "When stuff's not going right, we've got to stay even with that energy, not get too high or get too low." 

• Freiermuth, a pre-season All-American, was the leading receiver against the Huskers, hauling in seven passes for 113 yards including this 74-yard reception that led to a Penn State touchdown.

The play started because Levis was able to avoid the pressure Nebraska brought while keeping his eyes downfield, something Clifford struggled with quite a bit. They found a soft spot, and Ford got into the end zone two plays later.

• Brandon Smith's fourth-quarter interception was the first turnover for Penn State since Lamont Wade hauled in an interception against Indiana in the first game of the season. A team desperate for a turnover got it at the most opportune of times, but wasn't able to turn it into points. 

• Jesse Luketa and Oweh led the way for the Nittany Lions with nine tackles each, Ellis Brooks notched the lone sack of the day to go with eight tackles.

• Penn State will host Iowa, -- which moved to 2-2 by beating Minnesota Friday, next Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The start time has not been announced.