Penn State's struggles start with turnovers

Penn State coach James Franklin is pretty direct when he tries to dissect what has gone wrong with his team, which is 0-4 for the first time since 2001.

“In my opinion, it’s turnovers,” Franklin said Saturday via video conference following his team’s 30-23 loss to Nebraska at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. “It’s hard to get into a rhythm. It’s hard to get a groove. It’s hard to call when you don’t have the confidence that you’re not going to turn the ball over.”

Starting quarterback Sean Clifford was responsible for Penn State’s two turnovers against Nebraska.

On Penn State’s opening possession, Clifford was intercepted by Nebraska cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who returned the ball 55 yards to Penn State’s 15-yard line. Nebraska converted that into a 22-yard field goal by kicker Connor Culp to go up 10-0.

Things got ugly at 11 minutes, 29 seconds of the second quarter when Nebraska safety Deontai Williams sacked Clifford for a 13-yard loss and caused a fumble. Williams recovered and ran 26 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by Culp allowed Nebraska to claim a 24-3 advantage.

Following that mishap, Clifford was replaced by backup quarterback Will Levis, who finished 14 for 31 for 214 yards. He also added 61 rushing yards on 18 attempts.

Most importantly, Levis had no turnovers.

Franklin declined to say who he’ll start Saturday against Iowa at Beaver Stadium. At the same time, he acknowledged a change was necessary against Nebraska.

“We’re not going to name a starting quarterback right after a game before discussing it as a staff and before evaluating the tape, watching the tape and all those types of things,” Franklin said. “But, yeah, where we’re at in (the Nebraska) game, again, with the turnovers, and with what’s gone on in the season so far, we had to make that change. And I thought Will did some really good things coming in for us. So obviously that’ll be discussion all week long, and I know we’ll talk about it later in the week.”

Beyond the turnovers, Clifford was mostly ineffective. He finished 5 of 8 for 37 yards passing and gained 19 yards rushing on six carries.

Levis’ presence provided a jump to Penn State’s offense, Franklin said.

“He went in and gave us a spark,” Franklin said. “He made plays in the passing game. I thought he did a good job managing the game overall. And he made some good throws. So we’re going to have to build on that, there’s no doubt about it. He was fairly efficient, but we need to be a little bit more consistent in the details and the things that we’re doing. But, yeah, I think he definitely gave us the spark and gives us something to build on for sure.”

Regardless of who is at quarterback moving forward, Penn State’s hopes of even reaching .500 (out of an eight-game regular-season schedule) will rely heavily on greater ball security.

“For the last four years we’ve been pretty successful,” Franklin said. “This year, obviously, we’re not making enough plays and we’re not playing winning football when it comes to turnovers, and it’s been it’s been challenging to overcome.”