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Penn State quarterback competition likely boils down to Sean Clifford and Will Levis

After three record-breaking seasons from Trace McSorley, coach James Franklin needs to find a successor.

Sean Clifford is competing for the starting quarterback job at Penn State.
Sean Clifford is competing for the starting quarterback job at Penn State.Read moreChris Knight / AP

The issue of quarterback uncertainty at Penn State took a three-year break after Trace McSorley was chosen as the successor to Christian Hackenberg in 2016. McSorley went on to have three productive seasons, leading the team to 31 victories and breaking more than a dozen program records.

Now, with McSorley having been drafted by Baltimore in the sixth round last month, coach James Franklin must find the next Nittany Lions starting quarterback, a task that appeared to become more intriguing after the transfer of fifth-year senior Tommy Stevens to Mississippi State.

With Stevens out of the picture, the competition comes down to third-year sophomore Sean Clifford and redshirt freshman Will Levis. Clifford could be considered the front-runner because of his extra year in the program and the fact he played in four games last season and Levis didn’t take a single game snap.

Both love competing. Franklin said last month that Clifford was “highly, highly competitive, almost to the point where, when he first got here, he was hard to coach.” Clifford did not disagree.

“You can ask anybody on the team,” the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Clifford said earlier this spring. “They’d say I’m one of the most competitive guys on the team. I’d tell you that I’m the most competitive guy on the team … because I am. But you’ve got to back it up.”

Levis, who is 6-3 and 234 pounds, recalled attending a Penn State camp in eighth grade and hearing Franklin talk about competing in everything, “whether it’s in a football game or playing chess against your grandma; you want to kick her butt.”

“When I was a kid," Levis added, "I was very emotional, kind of like a Little League game where I might have been taking things a little too seriously. But in my mind, it wasn’t too seriously. Everything was about winning, and everything was about being the best you can be. That has definitely affected me positively as an athlete and in the classroom and basically everything I do.”

Asked how he compared with Clifford when it came to emotion, Levis smiled.

“I think you’ve got to be a little crazy if you want to be a good competitor,” he said. “Everyone has their own little things. Sean’s definitely a heck of a competitor himself, so it’s really cool to feed off his energy and to have communicated with him about what’s going on and stuff. But he’s definitely a fiery competitor, too.”

Levis said that he and Clifford are “really good friends” and that the competition would not get in the way of that.

Both players realize their increased leadership role. The Lions met after the news broke about Stevens’ transfer, and Clifford asked the players for their trust, saying, “I won’t let you down,” according to some players in the room.

“We said that the loss of Tommy isn’t going to affect this group,” Levis said. “We know we’re a talented group with or without him and this dilemma isn’t going to change how we approach things.”

Clifford and Levis were considered pro-style quarterbacks in high school. While they’re not likely to match McSorley’s ability to elude the pass rush and take off, they have been working on their footwork and buying a few more seconds in the pocket.

"I’m not trying to be Mike Vick out there,” Clifford said. “I love passing the ball. That’s why I play quarterback. But one of my biggest criticisms is that I can’t move as well as other guys. I’m definitely trying to add another dynamic to my game so I can press defenses in different ways.”

Other Penn State quarterbacks include two four-star freshmen — Michael Johnson Jr. and Ta’Quan Roberson — who took part in spring drills, and junior walk-on Michael Shuster.