Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State QB Sean Clifford to be '100%' healthy for Ohio State game?

The Penn State Nittany Lions haven't been the same since quarterback Sean Clifford suffered an undisclosed injury in the first half of the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes back on Oct. 9. Penn State squandered a double-digit lead and fell to Iowa after Clifford exited the contest in the first half and never returned, and the signal-caller was clearly limited because of the setback in this past Saturday's loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini in nine overtimes.

According to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, PSU head coach James Franklin vowed on Tuesday his QB1 will be at his best for this Saturday's showdown at the No. 5-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

"Last week, we weren't sure," Franklin said of Clifford's health. "We were trying to see where he was going to be. Sean's much further ahead now to be in back to 100 percent, so that's a positive" 

Franklin added he expects Clifford will be more mobile this Saturday and, thus, be able to make plays using his legs in a way he couldn't versus Illinois. In that loss, Clifford completed 19-of-34 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, with five rushing attempts for minus-28 yards. To compare, he gained 36 yards on the ground with a score on three rushes against Iowa before he was hurt. 

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