The award is presented annually to the most outstanding freshman player in college football.
"He's just so consistent with his approach, with his habits, with his maturity, with his drive towards being elite really in everything that he does."
The Nittany Lions are ranked by the College Football Playoff selection committee for the first time since coming at No. 10 in 2019.
The game was also the fourth-most watched of the 2022 college football season thus far.
Porter was tabbed for the Bednarik Award's list, while Clifford was for the Wuerffel Trophy's.
"We're going to look at who gives us the best chance to be 1-0 this week and go from there."