There was no major update on the status of Sean Clifford on Wednesday. Given how James Franklin handles information about injuries, that’s a minor positive for Penn State.
Because when the Nittany Lions coach does discuss them, it’s typically to announce a player’s season is over.
So it was Wednesday when Franklin revealed that senior defensive captain PJ Mustipher will miss the rest of the season after suffering a lower body injury on Saturday’s opening drive at Iowa.
Mustipher needed help to get back to the sideline, and though he remained there for the rest of the first half, the Lions’ top defensive tackle needed crutches to return from the locker room after halftime.
Though this is his fourth year of action, Mustipher would still have an extra year of eligibility to use in 2022 because of the COVID-19 exemption given to all players who played in 2020. Mustipher, who seems like a good bet to join his older brother, former Notre Dame standout Sam Mustipher, in the NFL could still enter the draft.
As for Clifford, he was not participating during a short portion of practice open to media on Wednesday. He also exited in the first half against the Hawkeyes after taking a hard shot on a blitz. Clifford was replaced by Ta’Quan Roberson for the rest of the game, a development which turned a 17-3 Penn State lead into a 23-20 loss.
“It’s part of the game, right?” Franklin said of Clifford’s injury. “Sean has had issues in the past. He’s doing everything he possibly can to get back as soon as he possibly can and go from there. What he’s dealing with is not uncommon at the quarterback position.”
The nature of Clifford’s injury is unknown, as he did not appear to be favoring anything specifically when he returned to the sideline after halftime.
The coaches do have some time to figure things out. The Lions are off this weekend before returning to action Oct. 23 with a home game against struggling Illinois. After that, Penn State has a trip to Ohio State on deck for Oct. 30.
Penn State has begun preparing in case Clifford isn’t healthy enough to face the Illini as Roberson and true freshman Christian Veilleux — the only other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster this season — are both working with the first team this week.
“Ta’Quan and Veilleux have both been splitting reps in practice this week and have done well,” Franklin said. “But nothing has been decided or determined at this point.”
For his part, Clifford posted a message on his Instagram account on Monday that served as sort of a Rorschach test for fans trying to read into it.
“In life, moments will come and go. Trials will come and go. It’s the memories with the people around you that live forever,” Clifford wrote along with a picture of himself in full uniform. “Time to create more memories.”
Regardless, it seems like Clifford will be available again at some point. The same can’t be said for Mustipher, a major blow to a defensive line already down a talented pass rusher in Adisa Isaac.
Mustipher had started every game at tackle next to Duke transfer Derrick Tangelo. The second-team tackles had been Dvon Ellies and Coziah Izzard, with Ellies seemingly in line to move into the starting spot.
The Lions also have a veteran option in Fred Hansard on the roster. Hansard himself suffered a serious injury earlier in his career, and his snaps this season have been limited.
“Obviously PJ we think is an elite-level player,” Franklin said.
Penn State had three other players unable to return to play on Saturday because of injuries in safety Jonathan Sutherland and running backs John Lovett and Devyn Ford.
The rash of injuries has remained a topic of discussion into this week. Franklin voiced his displeasure after Saturday’s loss that Iowa fans were booing Penn State players while they were down on the field, saying, “I don’t think that’s the right thing for college football.”
Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday he thought fans booed because they “smelled a rat,” insinuating that Penn State was faking injuries to try and break Iowa’s momentum on offense.
Franklin wrote up some notes to respond on Wednesday, which he did for an animated stretch of about five minutes. He noted that his teams haven’t used that tactic in the past, including in five previous games against the Hawkeyes on his watch.
It’s not that rare to see a defense have a player feign a cramp or an injury — typically on a signal from the sideline — to try and catch a breather for the whole unit, especially against up-tempo or spread offenses.
None of that describes the Hawkeyes, who huddle before most snaps and play at the slowest pace of any opponent on the Lions’ schedule so far.
Ferentz mentioned that fans seemed to be upset with “a couple guys that were down for the count and then were back a play or two later,” which happened on two occasions with safety Jaquan Brisker and defensive end Arnold Ebiketie having to briefly leave the field after being checked on by athletic trainers.
Franklin’s response was that it doesn’t make sense to fake injuries with such impactful players.
“(Ebiketie), maybe our best defensive player, and his probably looked the worst,” Franklin said. “He went down. Maybe it’s because he plays so hard and he was cramping, but am I going to tell (him) to go down and not play a play on defense? Does that make any sense? Brisker, he went down twice against Wisconsin. They didn’t boo him.”
But the biggest issue for Franklin wasn’t the implication of shady tactics but the human aspect of the dispute.
“Put yourself in the shoes of a parent,” Franklin said. “Your son is down on the field for an injury, and the stadium is booing them. We didn’t just boo that. We booed balls falling off tees by the wind. I don’t know who we’re booing for that. We weren’t gaining an advantage of that. But, your son’s down on the field with an injury — and I just said PJ Mustipher is done for the year — and we’re booing. Is that good for college football?”