Penn State QB Roberson enters transfer portal

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Will we ever know how good Ta'Quan Roberson truly might have been? No, not in a Penn State uniform, anyway.

In the least surprising transfer portal news ever, Roberson announced Monday morning that he will be leaving the Penn State program.

“Thank you Penn State University for the countless, unforgettable memories, and life long relationships built these past 3 years. Thank you Coach Franklin and staff for believing and taking a chance on me. After much thought and consideration, my family and I have decided it is best that I enter my name in the transfer portal with 3 years of eligibility remaining.”

Roberson came to Penn State as a 4-star recruit in 2019, and he entered this season as the backup to Sean Clifford. But for all the work he had put in and all the progress he had made during his career, Roberson will always be remembered by Penn State fans for a dreadful performance in the only meaningful game he ever got to play in for the Nittany Lions.

Clifford got hurt early in the second quarter at Iowa, with the No. 4 Lions leading the No. 2 Hawkeyes at the time, 17-3. Penn State basically just needed a quarterback to come in and run the offense at a most basic fundamental level and it would have won the game, but instead, the opposite occurred.

Roberson struggled mightily, to the point where merely even getting plays started became a problem as the offense committed numerous key false start penalties that backed drives way up and killed the Lions from a field position standpoint.

Roberson finished 7-of-21 for 34 yards and two interceptions. Iowa, getting great field position, then won the game, 23-20, on a touchdown with 6:26 remaining.

We never saw Roberson play again after that ill-fated contest. He eventually lost the backup quarterback job to true freshman Christian Veilleux, who played most of the game against Rutgers when Clifford had the flu. Veilleux looked sold in that contest and solidified the backup job.

Penn State is bringing in the nation's No. 1 quarterback recruit, Drew Allar, plus Pennsylvania prep star Beau Pribula this offseason. Given all of that, Roberson decided it would be best for him to seek an opportunity elsewhere.