When Penn State plays Rutgers on Saturday, it’s unclear who the Nittany Lions’ quarterback will be.
Sean Clifford, the usual starter, was injured in Penn State’s loss to Ohio State last Saturday, and on Tuesday, coach James Franklin said Clifford would be a game-time decision against the Scarlet Knights.
Then, on Wednesday, backup quarterback Will Levis got a majority of the first-team snaps in practice, according to Franklin.
Whether that means anything for Clifford’s status on Saturday remains to be seen, but with or without Clifford, the repetitions for Levis with the first-team offense are still valuable.
“Obviously whenever you play, it helps,” Franklin told reporters on Wednesday. “Whenever you play, it gives you an opportunity to experience things that you try to prepare for in practice, but there comes a point where you need that game reps. He’s been able to get some of that. Sometimes it’s cleanup duty. The other day, in a really ideal situation for a backup quarterback to get his first significant time on the road in front of 102,000 against the No. 1 team in the country, and really handled, for the most part, really well. So there’s definitely value in that, no doubt.”
The good news for the Nittany Lions, though they will likely never admit it, is that Rutgers, 2-9 overall, 0-8 Big Ten, is not Ohio State.
The experience Levis got last weekend likely came under the toughest circumstances he will have to face this season, and possibly in his entire career at Penn State. Against one of the top teams in the country, Levis entered with his team trailing by 21 points, brought them back to within four and helped give his team a chance to win when there seemed like there was none.
Levis finished that game with 57 yards passing and an interception to go along with 34 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
“I wouldn’t say it’s downhill [from here],” Levis told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, you’ve gotta take every play with the same mentality. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. But, yeah, it is cool to get those game reps.Those game reps are so important to get those under my belt. From now on, I think it won’t necessarily get easier, but I’ll just be more comfortable with it.”
The chemistry built through practicing with the starting offense could benefit Levis, specifically, because if there were any shortcomings in his game against the Buckeyes, they seemed to be miscommunications.
In the fourth quarter, Levis’ interception came on a play where he seemed to be on a different page from tight end Pat Freiermuth.
There were also times where the ball was snapped when it wasn’t supposed to, with Levis coming up to the line to say something to his offensive linemen, and the ball getting snapped to him when he was clearly not ready for it.
Perhaps those are the type of things that can be cured with Levis getting more practice time with the starters.
“The biggest thing for a quarterback or anyone that plays on that level for the first time is just getting those reps and getting that experience and getting comfortable with it,” Levis said. “So I was there mentally and kind of knowing what to do, but just, you’ve still gotta feel it out and put your gut in there, and that’s what I think I got a lot out of on Saturday.”
None of this necessarily means anything in terms of who will or won’t start on Saturday. That will likely depend on how healthy Clifford is by the time the game rolls around.
Still, the fact that Levis is getting more comfortable with his teammates on the first-team offense can only help Levis, both in the short-term and down the road.
“I think it’s definitely gonna benefit me,” Levis said. “Like I said, just getting those reps with the ones, it’s one thing getting in at the end of the game with the twos or whoever it is in a blowout, but to get those reps in the heat of the moment in a big game like that is really important, just to know that I can go in there and just kind of keep my cool and just know what Ican do right and to do it against an opponent like that is just reassuring.”
First Published: November 28, 2019, 3:59 p.m.
