Ahead of his final season in Happy Valley, quarterback Sean Clifford enters with high expectations. Clifford was recently named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate football player.

The Ohio native is one of 85 players on the list, and one of 11 players from the Big Ten to receive the honor. Former Penn State quarterback Will Levis was also named to the watch list.

Clifford is coming off of a difficult 2021 season, where he led the Nittany Lions to a 5-0 record before an injury at Iowa set him and the team back for the duration of the season. Still, he put up respectable numbers, throwing for 2,912 yards and 20 touchdowns.

This is his first major watch list going into the 2022 season, where he hopes to follow in the paths of recent Penn State stars like Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley and challenge for the award.