ALTOONA, Pa. -- This is Jeopardy! Let's take College Football Quarterbacks for $600:
"He is a third-year starting quarterback for one of the nation's most prestigious programs. He has looked like a star in the making at times, with impressive physical skills and football acumen, but also has been wildly inconsistent, frustrating his team's fan base on numerous occasions."
Penn State fan: "Who is Sean Clifford?"
"You are correct."
Auburn fan: "Hang on a second, ya'll. The answer should be Bo Nix."
"You are correct, as well."
Welcome to the real-life version of the popular Spider-Man meme. You know the one, where two Spideys point at each other, as if to say, You're me!
We had a little fun with the image and doctored one up for this week's game between Penn State and Auburn.
Granted, it's not the finest artwork around, but you get the idea.
Penn State fans know Clifford's story all too well. He led the team to an 11-2 record and Cotton Bowl victory two years ago, but was lousy early last season and got benched for one game as the Lions went 4-5. He entered this season with a whole lot to prove to the fan base.
“I know that there were times last year that I didn’t play up to my expectations,” Clifford said before the season. “I learned from that, and that’s how life goes. You’ve got to move on. When adversity sets in, there’s gonna be things that happen. And I’m not gonna deny what happened last season, but I’m also not gonna harp on it.
“This is 2021. I’m here to get the job done. We are here to win games. That’s the only thing on my mind right now.”
Auburn fans will say the same things about Nix, who had a strong 2019 season that began with a win over No. 11 Oregon and even included a victory over No. 5 Alabama in the Iron Bowl. But 2020 wasn't kind to Nix, who by all accounts was close to being benched, as the Tigers went 6-5 and coach Gus Malzahn was fired.
Bryan Harsin was hired from Boise State and brought a new offensive system to Auburn. Nix, who had to compete for the starting job and won it, said this in the preseason about his role in the offense"
"I can tell a great difference from spring to fall as far as how comfortable I am with (the offense) because I've been able to do it and had some reps. Now it's just muscle memory. And it's doing the same thing over and over and over."
Pro Football Focus showed Clifford a great deal of disrespect when it ranked him the No. 88 starting quarterback in the nation entering the season. Nix wasn't much higher on the list, at No. 67.
Again, that's a pair of third-year starting quarterbacks for major programs with high expectations, and the PFF rankings -- fair or not -- reveal just how much they have underachieved at their respective schools.
Here are their career stats as a starter entering the season:
2019
Clifford: 189-319 59.2 percent 2,654 yards 23 TDs 7 INTs
Nix: 217-377 57.6 percent 2.542 yards 16 TDs 6 INTs
2020
Clifford: 152-251 60.6 percent 1,883 yards 16 TDs 9 INTs
Nix: 214-357 59.9 2,415 yards 12 TDs 7 INTs
As you can see, there are a lot of similarities in those numbers.
The biggest issue with Nix has been that he's played very well at home, while struggling mightily on the road. In nine career road games, he's throw 10 interceptions with only nine touchdowns, and has beaten a ranked team only once (2019 at No. 17 Texas A&M).
Nix and the Tigers' offense will face the challenge of the very loud and energetic whiteout crowd Saturday night, so he definitely will have his work cut out for him. Then again, he has played in these types of environments before in SEC road games at LSU and Alabama, so he's not likely to be intimidated by the Penn State crowd.
Nix is off to a good start this season, as Auburn has destroyed Akron (60-10) and Alabama State (62-0). He has completed 29-of-39 passes (74.4 percent) for 353 yards with five TDs and no interceptions.
He will face a much more difficult challenge this week against a stout Penn State defense.
Harsin was asked this week where Nix has made the biggest strides this season.
"I didn't study and wasn't around him all last year, so it's a tough question for me to answer," Harsin said. "Since I've been with him, footwork, mechanics, maturity ... he's done a good job with."
Clifford is off to a strong start, as well, completing 39-of-62 passes (62.9 percent) for 477 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. Most importantly, he hasn't turned the ball over, which was a problem last year.
A huge factor for both QBs in this game will be protecting the football, something Clifford discussed Wednesday.
"Last year, when we were struggling, I was throwing an average of 2-3 interceptions per game," he said. "Now through two games, we have zero turnovers as a whole. That right there shows you how important the ball is -- securing the ball and respecting the ball."
