PSU's season didn't end at Iowa, but QB convo started anew: One big thing

IOWA CITY -- Tap the brakes and hold your horses, because Penn State's season didn't end on Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium as some are suggesting.

After watching the Nittany Lions rip off five straight wins before losing by three points on the road to the No. 3 team in the country without their starting quarterback for most of the contest, that's a certainty.

However, at the midway mark of the 2021 season, we're back to asking the same question we were in August: How will the quarterback play be on a week-to-week basis?

Head coach James Franklin had no update on the status of Sean Clifford after the passer left the game in second quarter with an undisclosed injury and never returned to action. He did come back to the sideline with his uniform and helmet, but there was no obvious signal regarding what was wrong. Is that good or bad news? Who knows, but there's no question that Penn State needs him to get better during the bye week and be ready for action when the team hosts Illinois two Saturdays from now at Beaver Stadium. We can answer that summer question, at least: There is no ambiguity about it, Clifford has not only improved but is far and away the program's best option under center.

Backup Ta'Quan Roberson tried his best, but there's a reason that many came out of spring practice and summer camp thinking the gap between him and Clifford was rather large. His best attribute isn't throwing but rather running, which provided some spark to Penn State's offense after halftime, but not nearly enough. He threw two interceptions and was close to tossing at least one more, and was inaccurate on deep passes but also the victim of a couple drops.

Fairly or unfairly, it's hard to envision Penn State finishing with just this lone loss if Roberson is forced to play for a prolonged period of time, and it's not entirely his fault. But, the truths aren't pretty: The offense was amazingly out of sync when he came in, and that was corrected some but not nearly enough as the game moved on, and there's also the everlasting issue of the run game just not being a threat, especially when teams can just load the box without fear of a passing attack. There was no greater example of that than Iowa kneeing the ball and then punting it back to Penn State with time on the clock late in a three-point game. The Hawkeyes knew the Lions were not going to drive into field goal range, and that's the problem a Roberson-led offense would face week in and week out moving forward.

"Our program is a next-man-up mentality, and Coach Franklin and Coach Yurcich prepare everyone to be ready in a situation like this," Roberson said.

"I know my teammates have my back, I have their backs, so we're just focused on next week."

More: What could have been? 5 takeaways from Penn State's 23-20 loss at Iowa

There's no questioning that, but this team needs Clifford on the field.

Let's pause for a quick aside: There will be much said about the fact that Penn State should have brought in a transfer portal at quarterback, and if it had, maybe this game wouldn't have played out the way it did. Perhaps that's true, but let's be frank: The Lions did court a few passers and didn't land any of them, and there just wasn't anybody else to bring in who could compete. If there was, Franklin and co., would have pulled the trigger. There is no arguing that.

Next week is Penn State's bye, of course, which is much needed at this point. Besides Clifford, PJ Mustipher spent much of the afternoon and evening on crutches, and Franklin said that John Lovett, Devyn Ford, and Jonathan Sutherland are all hurt. Beyond them, multiple Lions were attended to on the field, too, and that's not to mention Ellis Brooks, who played the entire game, and very well at that, with his right hand in a cast.

Penn State must ensure Iowa does not beat it twice, which means a full focus on improving and self-scouting weaknesses is a must in the days ahead before getting ready for Illinois and then a trip to Ohio State to close out the October portion of the schedule.

All of the Nittany Lions' goals and aspirations are still ahead of them, even with this loss meaning that they must be perfect the rest of the way to make the Big Ten title game and/or the College Football Playoff game.

With that said, we're still back to where we were six weeks ago, and that's wondering what kind of quarterback play Penn State will get. We won't know for a couple of weeks, but it's safe to say that a healthy Clifford gives this team its best chance to bounce back to start the second half of the season.

Saturday proved that as much as anything else so far this season.

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