Following the fifth day of Penn State’s preseason camp, Sean Clifford was asked a question about his 2020 season.

The veteran quarterback, who a few days earlier was willing to discuss the highs and lows of his first two seasons as the leader of the Nittany Lions’ offense, made it clear that now he was moving on.

No more talk about 2020, Clifford said.

The problem is, the majority of the Penn State fan base is likely still wondering what was wrong with Clifford early in 2020, when the Lions started 0-5 to clinch the only losing season of veteran coach James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State.

Franklin, now in his eighth season with the Lions, did pull the team together and guide it to four consecutive wins to close out the year.

But Penn State found a variety of ways to lose when it counted most. The narrow overtime loss at Indiana. The slow starts against Ohio State and Maryland. The red-zone issues at Nebraska. The second-quarter collapse at home against Iowa.

Clifford’s erratic play was impossible to miss in those defeats. He didn’t look like the same quarterback who directed Penn State to an 8-0 start in 2019 and, later that year, a Cotton Bowl triumph over Memphis.

But Clifford, now in his fifth year with the Lions, did play better late in 2020. He did cut down his mistakes in the wins over Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State and Illinois. But those programs all struggled that season. So did Clifford really rebound, or was he simply facing much easier competition?

The answers are coming, and coming early this season.

Coached up by a new offensive coordinator, we will know plenty about the Sean Clifford-Mike Yurcich “marriage” after three games. The Lions open their season at Wisconsin, then host MAC champion Ball State and Auburn the following two weeks.

Yurcich, when asked earlier this month about some of the ways he evaluates quarterback play and the overall effectiveness of his offense, was quick to mention low turnover totals, yards per passing attempt, completion percentage and, of course, wins and losses.

“Well, you want to make sure that you are trying to be as efficient as possible in quarterback play and along with that, hopefully you’re not throwing to the opposing team,” said Yurcich, who enjoyed considerable success at his three previous stops as an offensive coordinator — Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Texas last year.

“Things that come into that, and we try to keep it simple, are make sure that your eyes are right and your feet are right on every play, because that’s what we can control, and that’s what we define.”

“He’s proven, day in and day out, that he’s going to be the hardest worker, he’s going to make sure that not only myself but Ta’Quan (Roberson), ‘C.V.’ (Christian Veilleux), Mason (Stahl), we’re all on top of our things,” the 6-2, 219-pound Clifford said about Yurcich.

“He’s texting us constantly, he’s shooting us tweets he sees. He’s always into football, he’s always in the building and available, and that’s where trust is really built.”

Trust goes both ways and it is Yurcich’s job to clean up some of the finer points of Clifford’s game. Because with Will Levis now throwing footballs — and starting — at Kentucky, there really doesn’t seem to be much of a backup plan at the Penn State quarterback position.

Roberson and Veilleux, a January enrollee, are the only scholarship options behind Clifford. Roberson, a third-year player, has yet to take a meaningful snap in a game.

If Yurcich’s diverse offense is going to work in 2021, it will be because Clifford had his best year at Penn State. And it will be because the offense creates more big plays, protects the football and thrives in the red zone.

It starts with Clifford, who is now 23. After throwing for 23 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in his first year as starter (2019), the QB tossed nine interceptions in nine 2020 games. He did throw for 16 touchdowns, but his mistakes were game-changers during the 0-5 start.

Here are Clifford’s numbers in the losses to Indiana, Ohio State, Maryland, Nebraska and Iowa: 87 completions, 152 attempts, eight interceptions, 1,070 yards,11 touchdowns.

Clifford completed just 57.2 percent of his passes in the five losses, and he also had two lost fumbles — on sacks — returned by Maryland and Nebraska for touchdowns.

Now, Clifford’s numbers in the wins against Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State and Illinois: 65 completions, 99 attempts, one interception, 813 yards, five touchdowns.

With Penn State able to build leads during the winning streak, the Lions leaned more on the run and Clifford’s completion rate climbed to 65.6 percent.

So which Clifford will Penn State see this year? And how will Yurcich raise the QB’s completion percentage and lower the interception number?

Yurcich is big on details. And Clifford likes what he’s hearing from his third OC in three years. Not counting one-game interim offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen (Cotton Bowl), Clifford has been coached by Ricky Rahne (2019), Ciarrocca and now Yurcich.

“I think a big thing is accountability,” Clifford said when asked what he thinks is different about Yurcich’s approach.

“I’m not saying that coach (Kirk) Ciarrocca and coach (Ricky) Rahne have not had that, but coach Yurcich is on me every single day, making sure there is a reason for every single thing that I do.

“It’s just a different feel this year from an honesty perspective, a trusting perspective, just making sure that I’m on my P’s and Q’s every single day.”

A balanced offense will, in theory, leave Clifford with less to do this year. He never had balance last season after star runner Journey Brown had to retire prior to the first game due to a medical issue. And then-No. 2 back Noah Cain suffered a season-ending lower-leg injury after three carries vs. Indiana.

Penn State had to turn to then-true freshman Keyvone Lee, who needed time to find his way. He was much better during the winning streak and Lee led the Lions in rushing with 438 yards.

Lee and Cain are both back and healthy, and PSU can also turn to Caziah Holmes, Devyn Ford and Baylor transfer John Lovett.

A potent run game should help Clifford get back on track. But if Penn State is going to hang with some of the best teams on its schedule — Wisconsin, Auburn, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State — then Clifford is going to have to make more than a few plays with his arm.

The Lions also return some gifted wideouts and tight ends. Jahan Dotson led the Big Ten in receiving yards with 884 and Parker Washington was one of the top freshman receivers in the nation. Few teams have a pair of tight ends like Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson.

Again, it starts with the trigger man.

“Every time they take a snap, their eyes should be exactly here, and they should be thinking this, and the process should be this,” Yurcich said when talking about his vision of quality QB play.

“And if it’s not on time, if it’s not there, we go to the next option. And so there’s a progression, I talk about it all of the time. And so just being disciplined, trusting the system, and making the receivers are on the same page, making sure that our protection is right, making sure that are calls are right, a lot of things come into it.”

“Sometimes you’ll see an interception and you’ll think that it’s the quarterback’s fault,” Yurcich continued.

“Well, really, it was the right guard or it was the tight end or it was the ‘Z’ receiver. A lot of things come into it. It’s a team game and timing is critical.”

Just about everything will be critical for Penn State’s offense early. The Lions’ road matchup with the Badgers at Camp Randall is easily the most daunting opener of the Franklin era.

And that first game comes on the heels of the 2020 start. Penn State’s offense is going to have to be more explosive, less predictable and better balanced.

“I think that changing the speeds (on offense), changing what you do is good,” Clifford said.

“We’re going to have a lot of different looks this year, we’re going to have a lot of different plays, a lot of different formations, we’re going to do a lot of things.”

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