Penn State's Sean Clifford named finalist for scholar-athlete award

Oct. 27—Penn State senior quarterback Sean Clifford was named Wednesday as one of the 13 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented to the most outstanding scholar-athlete in college football.

Clifford is the 19th Penn State player to be so recognized and the first since quarterback Trace McSorley in 2018. Nittany Lions guard John Urschel won the Campbell Trophy in 2013.

Clifford will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Class. The winner will be announced at the NFF's annual awards banquet Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.

He owns a 3.45 cumulative grade-point average. He graduated with a degree in public relations in December 2020 and is pursuing a second degree in journalism.

"It's an honor, for sure," Clifford said. "I'm not going to downgrade that. I'm really excited to be a finalist, to represent my team, my school and my family. But at the same time, it's tough to sit back and look at any sort of accolade or any sort of trophy or anything like that when you have such a big game coming up this Saturday."

No. 20 Penn State will travel to meet No. 5 Ohio State Saturday night at 7:30 (TV-ABC).

Clifford sustained an unspecified injury three weeks ago in a 23-20 loss at Iowa, missing almost the final three quarters. He was limited by the injury in a 20-18 loss against Illinois in nine overtimes last week.

Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday that he expects Clifford to be 100% for the Ohio State game.

"Yeah, I feel good," Clifford said. "Obviously, I didn't feel 100% (against Illinois), but at the same time, I felt good enough to play. This week I really, truly, believe that I will be at 100% by the end of the week.

"I'm working really hard doing everything possible to get my body right. I think obviously that'll help the team in the end. So I'm doing everything I can to put the best product on the field."

Clifford is in his third season as Penn State's starting quarterback. He's played in 31 games with 26 starts.

He's one of four Lions to reach at least 7,000 total yards and one of five Penn State quarterbacks to reach 6,000 passing yards. He's one of 14 current FBS quarterbacks with at least 6,000 passing yards and 875 rushing yards.

Clifford ranks fourth in the Big Ten in passing touchdowns (12) and fifth in completion percentage (64.6), passing yards per game (235.3) and total offense (256.0).

Brisker recognized: Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker was named earlier this week as one of 12 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is presented to the nation's top defensive back.

Brisker was named to Midseason All-America teams by The Associated Press, ESPN and The Athletic.

According to Pro Football Focus, he's played 738 coverage snaps in his career without allowing a touchdown, the most in college football since 2019.

The winner of the Jim Thorpe Award will be announced Dec. 9 during the College Football Awards Show.