STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — What a difference a year makes. Penn State was 0-5 last season. Quarterback Sean Clifford was a big part of the problem. Tonight, Clifford the best player on the field. Penn State could only run for two and half yards per carry, but 28 of 32 passing. That'll get the job done.
"A lot of positives coming out of there," Penn State Football Coach James Franklin said. "I thought we played really good complimentary football. Offense scored enough points to win and created some explosive plays. I think we can be a little more efficient in the running game. I think we can improve there. I thought we protected well. I thought Sean managed the game really well."
"When you have that much time in the pocket, and the way that they played, they locked everybody down," Penn State Junior Quarterback Sean Clifford added. "It makes you confident as a quarterback. Like I said, it allows you to push the ball down the field. You don't have to play short game. You can go long. You can go intermediate. You can run the ball. That's another thing. I'm just talking about the pass game. I thought they did a great job in the run game too."
"I think we did a great job just coming on the field and always staying positive," Penn State senior safety Jaquon Brisker said of the defense. "I think we can get better, just in some little areas, just doing our job and just things like that. So, that's where the defense is. The last play? I read the quarterback's eyes. He was looking to my side and I should have capitalized on that, but I got a deflection and we won the game. So, that's all that matters."
"I think we had a really good mentality on defense," Franklin added. "I think our leadership is really good. I think we're a mentally tough football team. I think we're a physically tough football team. We give up some yards, but we make critical plays when it matters most. Going on the road, at Wisconsin. It's a tough place to play. We found a way to gut out a win there and we were able to do that again tonight against I think that's a good football team."