The news comes on the heels of head coach James Franklin’s comments following the annual Blue-White game, saying their needs to be a ‘true competition’ between Stevens and redshirt sophomore Sean Clifford.

Stevens entertained the idea of transferring after last season but decided to remain in Happy Valley. He spent most of the season hobbled by a foot injury that required surgery in December, unable to assume his ‘Lion’ role in the Penn State offense.

Stevens’ father, Tom, told the Centre Daily Times last week that his son would leave Penn State if not named the starter. He will have one season of eligibility remaining, whether he returns to Penn State or decides to finish his career elsewhere.

“We want to be able to name the starter as soon as we possibly can, but we are not ready to do that right now and it’s going to need to be more of a

true competition,” Franklin said after the Blue-White game.

Penn State redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford.

Clifford took the majority of the backup reps last season and saw his first meaningful action against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl following an injury that briefly knocked McSorley out of that game.

“When Tommy comes back, it’s back to competition,” Clifford said last week. “And I’m excited for that.”

Clifford, a former 4-star recruit out of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, has impressed the Nittany Lion coaches with his competitive drive from the moment he arrived on campus.

Unlike McSorley and Stevens, the 6-2 Clifford is more of a traditional pocket passer, although he did rush for 33 yards in the Blue–White game in addition to throwing for 119 yards and a touchdown.

The other scholarship quarterbacks on Penn State’s roster are redshirt freshman Will Levis and true freshmen Taquan Roberson and Michael Johnson Jr.

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