Analysis: The myth of the QB competition at Penn State taken in Altoona, Pa. (Penn State)

Penn State Athletics

Sean Clifford

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Look, I get it, to borrow James Franklin's favorite phrase. We all want  there to be a quarterback competition at Penn State heading into next season, for two big reasons.

1. Sean Clifford isn't all that good. You know this. I know this. The stats reveal it. The eye test reveals it. So, many fans are just ready to move on from Clifford after three years as a starter.

2. Drew Allar is the No. 1 QB recruit in the country. We all can't wait to see what the guy can do. So, many fans are eager to throw him out there and see what all the hype is about.

If Allar really is as good as everyone seems to think, then he just might be ready to step right in and be Penn State's starting quarterback to open the season.

Right?

No.

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble here, but we need to be realistic. There is not going to be a legitimate starting quarterback competition over the next seven months.

When the Nittany Lions take the field at Purdue on Sept. 3, Clifford is going to be the starter. You can bank on that, barring, of course, some kind of injury or other unforeseen scenario that prevents him from playing.

Now, who will be Penn State's starting quarterback on, say, Oct. 22 against Minnesota? That really is a more interesting question in a lot of ways.

Franklin was asked Wednesday if he is committed to Clifford starting, or if he will open things up with the addition of Allar and Beau Pribula, plus the return of Christian Veilleux, who shouldn't be forgotten in all this discussion.

People can parse these words any way they want, but it seems pretty clear to me.

"Sean's our returning starter, and there's no doubt about that," Franklin said. "But yeah, there's competition at every position, and obviously it's more challenging at any position to unseat returning starter who's been doing it for a couple years.

"But there's competition across the board at every single position. And you rebuild your team every single year. And there'll be competition at every single position, including the quarterback."

Ahhh, the grand old coach speak of "competition at every position." Coaches say that because they have to in order to continue to motivate every single guy on the roster. You can't take away a guy's hope by telling him he'll never supplant the starter no matter what.

But there are realities in football and all sports. And these are the realities when it comes to Clifford:

* He'll be 24 years old and in his sixth season in the program

* A three-year starter

* A three-time team captain, almost certain to be four

* Highly respected by teammates and coaches alike

* Hard worker, high football IQ and strong leader

There is no way Franklin is going to bench a guy with all of that experience in favor of a true freshman to start a season.

No. Way.

Penn State opens at Purdue, a Big Ten game on the road. Two weeks later, the Lions play at Auburn, in what will be a tremendous SEC environment. Clifford has played in a ton of big games in his career, and he won't be at all fazed by any of that.

Let me double, triple and quadruple down on my "no way" stance given those factors. If the Lions were playing three early home games against the likes of Buffalo, Akron and Eastern Illinois, then yeah, you could afford to throw Allar out there and let him do a lot of learning. But the season could largely be defined by what happens at Purdue and Auburn, setting the tone for everything else that follows.

If you're new here, you may be under some misguided notion that I believe Clifford is really good and therefore should be guaranteed the starting job. That is not my point at all, with any of this.

I'm on record having written that Penn State and Clifford should have parted ways so that the Lions could bring in a transfer to bridge this season until Allar is ready next year. There were better QBs in the transfer portal than Clifford, but with him coming back for another year, there's no chance the Lions could have landed one, because those transfer guys want some level of commitment that they will start.

I strongly believe that true freshmen quarterbacks need time to develop, to learn, to get acclimated to a much more difficult game than they played in high school. The best way to do that is to sit on the bench, if not for an entire season then most of a season.

Another factor here with regards to a QB competition in the coming months is that, for all of the experience he does have, Clifford still needs a lot of time working in and mastering Mike Yurcich's offense. In theory, you'd like to just give all the reps to the young QBs in the spring since you have a three-year starter returning. But Penn State's offense was awful this past season, and truth be told, Clifford needs to be out there getting a lot of reps, as well, to make sure he's fully ready for next season.

If the coaches drag out some sham QB competition for 5-6 months, it would only prevent Clifford and all the first-teamers from getting as much experience as possible in Yurcich's system to help prevent the disaster that occurred in 2021.

Alrighty, then, so could we see Allar become the starting quarterback at some point in 2022? Yes, I do think that's possible, but will caution Penn State fans that you probably don't want to see that happen.

Here's why.

If the Lions lose a lot early, say to Purdue, Auburn and Michigan in week six, then the season quickly will become an afterthought. If that happens, then hey, why not make the switch to Allar and start building for the future? That Minnesota game I mentioned previously on Oct. 22 would be a good time to start.

All of that is a somewhat likely scenario.

But if Penn State beats Purdue and goes to Auburn and wins with Clifford, there will be a lot of excitement and potential for the rest of the season. They're certainly not going to change QBs if the fourth-year starter is winning, and maybe, just maybe he could pull off some kind of Kenny Pickett senior season.

So basically, if Penn State fans want to see a lot of Allar this year, it would come at the expense of the team's record. Because as long as the Lions are winning and Clifford is playing at least OK, there won't be any QB switch.

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