Penn State's James Franklin backs Sean Clifford amid calls for Drew Allar

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin doesn't sound too interested in discussing sitting starting quarterback Sean Clifford in favor of freshman and five-star recruit Drew Allar for this Saturday's home game against the 4-2 Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

"Nothing has changed with the plan or the model at this stage," Franklin said Tuesday about his quarterback situation, according to Mark Wogenrich of FanNation's All Penn State. 

Clifford exited last Saturday's 41-17 blowout loss at the Michigan Wolverines due to an unspecified injury, but some fans were calling for Allar to play even before that setback. As noted by ESPN stats, Clifford is completing a career-worst 59.0% of his throws this fall, and his 137.4 rating for the campaign is lower than his career average (140.9). 

Allar replaced the hurting Clifford at Michigan and completed five-of-10 throws for 37 yards. 

"There are a lot of different things that I would say," Franklin responded when asked about some hoping he'd turn to Allar over a healthy Clifford this week. "Number one, that's the wrong message, that's the wrong signal, and Sean has earned the right to be on the field. That doesn't mean that Drew hasn't done some good things, and would we love to get him an opportunity and continue to grow him and to continue to develop him for his future? No doubt about it."

One wonders if Franklin will change his mind before 5-1 Penn State prepares to host the unbeaten Ohio State Buckeyes on Oct. 29. For now, the job seems to be Clifford's to lose as long as he's cleared to play.