If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it 10,000 times. Why can’t kids these days just let their play do the talking when it comes to playing Ohio State. Look, I get it, you’re all fired up to take down the big, bad wolf, so you get emotional and pop off a little in the media.
I mean, these are nineteen and twenty-year old kids, but we’ve seen it time and time again from teams that are trying their hardest to dust off frustrations of playing second fiddle to a team at the level of the Buckeye program. Michigan had some guarantees, revenge tours, and harsh comments for turncoat coaches, but each and every time the walk doesn’t match the talk.
Now we have Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford saying things that — while not crossing the line — can still be used as bulletin board material.
Clifford is an Ohio kid. He played for Cincinnati St. Xavier and was a four-star recruit. He was considered the best player coming out of the state, yet Ohio State didn’t offer him, and instead went for the national Gatorade Player of the Year, Tate Martell.
How’d that work out?
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Ryan Day described Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford as "competitive, tough, well-prepared and a good leader."
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 19, 2019
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Anyway, now it appears Clifford has a bit of an ax to grind. When speaking with reporters, the Penn State signal-caller went right up to the line when talking about his feelings of going back to Ohio.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s a little personal going back,” Clifford said. “Whenever you go back to where you’re from, to play the team from where you’re from, that’s always going to bring a little extra juice.”
He went on to speak about how hungry and prepared the team will be to go to Columbus.
“I’m very excited to be in the position we are,” he said. “I can promise that this will be the best week of preparation that we will have. We will not be denied that. We will be extremely, extremely prepared for next week.”
So it doesn’t quite reach the level of a slight towards Ohio State some of the things TTUN has done, but you know coaches and players will use whatever they can to motivate and prepare for an opponent. This falls into that category, and Clifford probably would be better advised to just respect and heap praise on the opponent.
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