Sean Clifford: QB · Penn State · #14.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Sean Clifford
Operates within the system without forcing anything. Fifth year in the Penn State quarterback room. Named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week two seasons running, most recently in 2022. One game to point at: 371 passing yards and 3 passing TD against Ohio State — Week 9, 2022.
Play style
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long
Where the completions actually land
62.5% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 34.9% conversion-per-dropback — 40.0% of completions land short of the sticks.
Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. checkdown by design
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
5 of the team's 29 inside-the-5 carries (17.2%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Penn State | 226 | 351 | 64.4% | 2,822 | 8.0 | 24 | 7 | 150.5 | 73 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 261 | 428 | 61.0% | 3,107 | 7.3 | 21 | 8 | 134.4 | 31 |
| 2020 | Penn State | 151 | 250 | 60.4% | 1,877 | 7.5 | 16 | 9 | 137.4 | 45 |
| 2019 | Penn State | 189 | 319 | 59.2% | 2,654 | 8.3 | 23 | 7 | 148.5 | 69 |
| 2018 | Penn State | 5 | 7 | 71.4% | 219 | 31.3 | 2 | 0 | 428.5 | -- |
| Career | 832 | 1,355 | 61.4% | 10,679 | 7.9 | 86 | 31 | 144.0 | 53 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Penn State | 70 | 185 | 2.6 | 5 | 62 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 99 | 163 | 1.6 | 2 | 43 |
| 2020 | Penn State | 99 | 335 | 3.4 | 3 | 35 |
| 2019 | Penn State | 116 | 402 | 3.5 | 5 | 58 |
| 2018 | Penn State | 5 | −3 | −0.6 | 0 | 6 |
| Career | 389 | 1,082 | 2.8 | 15 | 62 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 35-31@ Purdue | 20/37 | 282 | 4 | 1 | 7.6 | 75.4 | Clean 2-TD game |
| Wk 2 | W 46-10vs Ohio | 19/27 | 213 | 1 | 0 | 7.9 | 65.7 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-12@ Auburn | 14/19 | 178 | 0 | 0 | 9.4 | 68.4 | |
| Wk 4 | W 33-14vs Central Michigan | 22/34 | 217 | 3 | 0 | 6.4 | 64.6 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 5 | W 17-7vs Northwestern | 10/20 | 140 | 1 | 1 | 7.0 | 37.9 | |
| Wk 7 | L 17-41@ No. 5 Michigan | 7/19 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 6.3 | 78.6 | |
| Wk 8 | W 45-17vs Minnesota | 23/31 | 295 | 4 | 1 | 9.5 | 92.8 | 4 TD passes |
| Wk 9 | L 31-44vs No. 2 Ohio State | 32/47 | 371 | 3 | 3 | 7.9 | 63.9 | Season-high 371 yds · 3 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 10 | W 45-14@ Indiana | 15/23 | 229 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 | 53.3 | |
| Wk 11 | W 30-0vs Maryland | 12/23 | 139 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 52.3 | |
| Wk 12 | W 55-10@ Rutgers | 17/26 | 157 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 76.7 | |
| Wk 13 | W 35-16vs Michigan State | 19/24 | 202 | 4 | 0 | 8.4 | 83.6 | 4 TD passes |
 Bowl | W 35-21vs No. 7 Utah | 16/21 | 279 | 2 | 0 | 13.3 | — | |
| Total | 226/351 | 2822 | 24 | 7 | 8.0 | — |
Week 1 · 2022
W 35-31
at Purdue
282 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 75.4 · 11 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD
Edged out Purdue on the road in a shootout.
With B. Amor — 46.9 yards per punt · 8 punts · 3 inside the 20 · B. Strange — 2 rec · 77 yds · 1 TD
The plays that mattered most
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 346 passing plays (224 completions) against the box score's 351 attempts (226 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
7.9041 of 206 QBsSack rate
4.4%58 of 206 QBsRarely sacked (58 of 206 QBs) and still 41 of 206 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Short
0–9 ydsMiddle
10–19 ydsDeep
20+ ydsOverall 64.4% completion on 351 attempts · 44 deep completions averaging 31.5 yds.
5 seasons under James Franklin — 42-19 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 225 | 2.4 | 7.6 | 0.7 |
| Road5g | 193 | 1.0 | 7.9 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 204 | 1.6 | 8.3 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 232 | 2.2 | 8.0 | 0.8 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
James Franklin
Pass share
46.9%
422 pass / 477 run
Plays / game
69.2
13 games
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
Our Heisman model had this player inside its top 25 in 2022.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #35 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Penn State, 10,679 passing yards — drafted at #149 overall by the Green Bay Packers.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2022
1 coachPlayed every college season under James Franklin.
Next stop · NFL
Green Bay PackersEntering 4th NFL season
Green Bay PackersEntering 4th NFL season
