After weeks of struggle, Penn State's offense stops beating itself
Pursuing a minor in psychology, Sean Clifford prefers to use the technical term for the zone he enters that enables him to play loose, relaxed football.
It's called the flow-state. For five weeks, Clifford hadn't been able to find it.
Saturday, in Penn State's 27-17 win over Michigan, Clifford welcomed his flow-state's return, playing clean, mistake free football that helped the Nittany Lions earn their first win of the season.
"When an athlete or anybody really gets in a state of flow, it's definitely a game-changer," Clifford said postgame. "It's fun when you get in that state, when you can just play loose. I feel like I personally haven't been there. Last year I was, but after a couple losses this year, I feel like it's been tough to find that.
"Today I just kind of let loose and had fun with my teammates, and I felt like I was back to the Sean that I used to be."
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And while it lacked some of the explosiveness that it has featured in recent seasons, Penn State's offense rode Clifford's resurgence to an unspectacular, but incredibly improved performance.
For the first time this season, Penn State did not commit a turnover, after giving it away 13 times through five games.
"That's been the issue that we've been battling and working through all year long," Penn State head coach James Franklin said.
The neon yellow highlighter that has identified the turnover column in the box score as the anchor dragging Penn State down hadn't helped the Nittany Lions free themselves from the weight.
They tried a quarterback change, focused more on the ground game, and still, Penn State could not stop handing the football to its opponent like it was a holiday gift wrapped in shiny paper and a colorful bow.
But Clifford, fresh off a benching, found his flow-state, and stopped delivering presents.
"I've never wavered in Cliff's ability," senior lineman Michal Menet said. "I've never stopped trusting him. I've never lost any faith in him whatsoever — and nobody has. I think the biggest thing for him is he was playing confident today, protecting the football, things that we've been talking about. I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm surprised, because I know who Cliff is as a player."
To the eye of wideout Isaac Lutz, the biggest difference in Penn State's offense was the play of Menet's unit in the trenches.
The big men up front were able to get a consistent push in the ground game and keep Clifford largely comfortable in the pocket — surrendering just a single sack.
"I think when Sean doesn't feel a lot of pressure in his face and he can sit comfortably in the pocket — I think any quarterback would play more confident when that's going on," Menet said.
The impact was found in both numbers on the scoreboard.
The Nittany Lions scored 27 points, their highest total since Week One, but they also held Michigan to just 17 points — Penn State's best defensive performance of the season.
Without an offense that takes care of the football, that simply wouldn't happen.
"It gives us a lot of confidence as a whole, not only the defense but all those who are watching, knowing that we're continuing to move the ball and that we have some momentum," linebacker Brandon Smith said. "Then, really, it's like 'OK, we have something to go off of,' instead of just having those unfortunate situations where we have three-and-outs or just turnovers."
The result, with time winding down, found Penn State in the red zone — the site of many of their offensive nightmares this season.
A perfect 4-for-4 in red zone conversions on the day, Clifford and the Nittany Lions were content to throw that achievement away, kneeling down three times and bringing a win home for the first time in almost a calendar year.
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