The 2021 season is shaping up to be a much better one for Penn State than it was a year ago. A season of redemption is playing out nicely after the first three weeks of the season, with a 28-20 victory over Auburn in front of a whiteout crowd the latest achievement in a 3-0 start to the season. And two of Penn State’s top offensive players continue to leave their mark in the process.
Sean Clifford entered the game as the 10th all-time leading passer in Penn State history, but solid showing against the Tigers saw Clifford make a serious move up the school’s all-time passing leaderboard. Clifford added 280 passing yards to his career total, bringing him to 5,489 career passing yards. That moved Clifford up three spots to No. 7 in Penn State history.
Clifford moved ahead of Anthony Morelli (5,275 yards), Kerry Collins (5,304 yards), and Chuck Fusina (5,382 yards). Clifford is now just 253 yards behind the next quarterback on Penn State’s all-time list, with that being Daryll Clark. Clark was the last Penn State quarterback to beat a team from the SEC before last night’s game.
Penn State’s all-time leading passers in Nittany Lions history
Clifford actually broke a tie with Clark for fourth place on the school’s all-time passing touchdown list. With two touchdowns thrown in the Week 3 over Auburn, Clifford moved two touchdowns ahead of Clark’s career total of 43. Clifford is now up to 45 career touchdown passes, putting him just five touchdowns away from second place on the Penn State all-time list. Christian Hackenberg is currently second on the Penn State career touchdown passing list with 48 career touchdown passes. Unless Clifford averages 3.7 touchdowns per game for the rest of the regular season, he won’t come close to sniffing Trace McSorley’s school record of 77 touchdown passes.
Penn State’s all-time passing TD leaders in Nittany Lions history