STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With this throw to his tight end Brenton Strange, Sean Clifford is now the all-time career passing yards leader at Penn State with 10,023 passing yards, passing Trace McSorley. Penn state shutout Maryland 30-0. It's their first shutout since the Rutgers game last year.
"One of the first things that I was taught when I came into this program was appreciate it," Clifford said. "Appreciation, think about all your blessings. Did I have some bad days? Yeah, for sure, but at the same time, I know I've given this program everything I got."
"It's a great accolade for Cliff," Strange said. "I think he's very under-appreciated here. Cliff's the best to every come through here in my opinion."
Clifford is used to throwing touchdowns. On his first career pass attempt, he threw a touchdown to Brandon Polk in the endzone against Pittsburgh in 2018, and today, now he's the first Penn State quarterback in history to throw for more than 10,000 yards.
"Really just go back to when I was a kid, watching quarterbacks in the Big Ten, aspiring to be in those shoes and now to be able to say that I've accomplished some things with some great teammates, it's something I'm very proud of," Clifford said.
The defense helped out Clifford with good field position. It was 27-0 at halftime and Maryland had just 27 yards of offense. Penn State finished the game with 9 sacks and 7 tackles for a loss.
"With the weather, the tackles for loss you would think would have been more impactful than the sacks, but we were able to do both," Penn State Football Coach James Franklin said.
"It just comes from everybody trusting each other," Adisa Isaac added. "Once we see one guy with a high motor, we're like let's all match his intensity and that's what we do."
Several NFL draft projections say Clifford won't be drafted, but his elusiveness helped him climb the Penn State record books. He's not racing away from the hard work it will take play at the next level.