Penn State football is ranked No. 7 in the country and flying high entering the 2019 White Out against No. 16 Michigan in no small part thanks to an excellent start to redshirt sophomore Sean Clifford’s term as the team’s first-string quarterback.

Clifford has gone 102-for-159 (64.1 completion percentage) for 1,560 yards and 13 touchdowns against just two interceptions through six games played. The most important stat for a quarterback is wins and losses, and Clifford’s posted a perfect 6-0 record through his first half-season at the helm of the Nittany Lions’ offense.

Although he’s definitely been good (and consistently good) this year, Clifford has had some struggles — particularly in the early stages of the Nittany Lions’ 17-12 victory against Iowa. Penn State gained just 10 yards of offense and entered the second quarter down 3-0 against the Hawkeyes. Clifford passed for precisely zero yards in that quarter, and he knows his performance during it wasn’t up to standard.

“If I played how I did in the first quarter, [the coaches] should’ve benched me,” Clifford said postgame. “I feel like I played terrible.”

It might be unfair to call Clifford’s first-quarter performance “terrible” because, at the very least, he took care of the ball and didn’t give Iowa any easy opportunities to put points on the board. That said, Penn State’s offense couldn’t get anything going in the first 15 minutes of Saturday’s game.

Clifford and his teammates bounced back during the final three quarters of the game. The quarterback may have only passed for 117 yards after the first quarter, but he threw a 22-yard touchdown to KJ Hamler in the second quarter, rushed for an additional 52 yards, and, most importantly, took care of the football.

The performance might not have been incredible, but it showcased Clifford’s innate ability to overcome early struggles.

“I’m glad that I’ve been growing throughout games. I know, mentally, that I can fight through that adversity,” he said. “My teammates have my back, my offensive line is in my ear saying ‘you’re good, you’re good, you’re good.’ The running backs, wide receivers, and defense say the same thing, and I’m just happy that I’ve made that adjustment.”

Head coach James Franklin said that he addressed Clifford’s early nerves during the game. However, he didn’t bring them up at any point afterwards.

Instead of looking at the nervousness itself, Franklin evaluated the fundamentals behind his quarterback’s struggles during that first quarter.

“We went through the game tape with him and talked about some of the things that hindered his production — his footwork in the pocket and things like that. We address the causes,” Franklin said. “I thought up ’til the beginning of that Iowa game, he’s handled things really well. Whether that’s getting the ball out on time, adjusting the protection to pick up the blitz, or making plays with his feet, he’s done a really good job.”

Clifford had a much less severe case of the early-game jitters in his first start for the Nittany Lions against Idaho. Although Penn State’s defense gave him prime field position to work with, Clifford only led his team to a field goal on each of his first two drives as the starting quarterback.

After those first two drives, Clifford’s favorite target took on the responsibility of calming his quarterback down.

“KJ [Hamler] is like a vet now. He was like, ‘Yo, you need to chill out,’” Clifford said after his team’s 79-7 victory over Idaho. “When you have a guy like that on your side, it helps you calm down a lot. After that second drive, we got it going as an offense. We were way more efficient, and we put up points, which is all that matters.”