Me too Corey. I don't see any reason not to start him unless the OL can't protect him and he gets pounded to death. Otherwise get him experience for the future. That's what happened to Chris Leak, by game three of his first season he was the starter and stayed there for four years winning the NC in his senior season. By the way even though I am not a Notre Dame fan I was thinking this would be a good move!
Chris Leak wound up UF's all-time passing yds leader and won a NC. JC needs to get going on that now from what I saw last Sat. I agree why waste time.. so play him now unless he will get killed....in which case teach him how to get rid of the ball which incidentally Leak was very good at.
You needn't be surprised; it's Clausen. It might as well be him. Even though some of the starters had been pulled by the time he went it he was more polished than the other two. He wasn't scared at all, got rid of the ball quickly, and actually surveyed the field instead of dropping back and glaring at the rush coming at him. He's the future, it might as well start now.
Charlie Weis must be listening! Clausen To Start Weis hands QB Clausen starting job against Penn State Sep. 4, 2007 CBSSports.com wire reports SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame freshman Jimmy Clausen will start at quarterback Saturday against Penn State after entering the opener as the third-stringer following offseason arm surgery. Coach Charlie Weis, whose team is coming off a 33-3 loss at home to Georgia Tech, did not immediately elaborate Tuesday on the reason for his choice. Clausen was rated by many as the top high school recruit last year. Weis said Sunday that Clausen could not have started the opener because he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery to have a bone spur removed from his throwing elbow. Weis said Clausen wasn't fully healthy until last week. Notre Dame was held to 130 yards passing last week, ranking them 94th of 113 teams. Clausen played the final two series and was 4-of-6 passing for 34 yards and sacked once. Demetrius Jones started the game and was 1-of-3 passing for 4 yards against Georgia Tech and ran the ball 12 times for 28 yards. Four of the six drives he led ended in three-and-outs, and he fumbled the ball away on the other two possessions. Evan Sharpley was 10-of-13 passing for 92 yards, but was sacked seven times. AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service Copyright 2006-2007, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Up next for ND and Michigan, PSU and Oregon, respectively. Assuming both ND and Mich lose this week and remain unranked, would the game on the 15th be the 1st ever ND-Mich game where both teams were out of the top-25?
As ........... <t>Much as I would like to see it Mich will beat Oregon this week. Houston ran nuts against them but played no defense themselves plus two fumbles and a blocked put killed them. I look for a UM win which always pains me.<br/> As for the Irish its another of those cover my eyes till someone proves they can block. I'm glad it wasn't just me that noticed the problem last week as this subject is getting hammered on all Irish boards.</t>
blocking <t>i've read rather extensive breakdowns explaining the sacks and poor blocking. two things really stand out:<br/> <br/> 1. The 'quick change' of our blocking scheme to a read-zone spread option attack to suit DJ at QB seemed to create confusion.<br/> <br/> 2. The terrible reads and amount of time it took for the QB to get rid of the ball. Our starter just flat out missed reads. I know a lot of people are crying that he didn't get more throws in his start, but watch the tape again, the chances he got were blown because he panicked. There were WIDE OPEN receivers...including a screen pass in which there was only one receiver on the play AND HE WAS UNCOVERED.. the QB panicked, and took the hit rather than getting rid of the ball. Sharpley looks pretty good, but he's taking a good 5 to 8 seconds to get rid of the ball. That just doesn't cut it at this level, especially with the blocking scheme that's only designed to give you 3 to 5 seconds of cover time.<br/> <br/> I am still confident for this team. They are young, brutally so in fact. I'm hoping that junking the goofy ass spread option and a return to what we do best will lead to some Ws for us in the near future.<br/> <br/> I have an off-day today and have spent a good bit of it catching up on stuff watching ESPN in the backround... Good lord, do any of these guys do anything more than shoot from the hip anymore? No research. No credible sources. Just speculation.... its pretty bad. I'm smiling though because I know the future is bright.</t>
JC <r>O.K., <br/> <br/> I'm only a fan and never played the game myself. When I'm looking a players on film and listen to the analysis of real players and coaches, I frequently find myself scratching my head and what's left of my hair and saying "what the hell are they talking about", in other words I do not profess to be an expert. I'm only a fan, a subway alum if you will of ND. <br/> <br/> Having said that and after watching in agony last sat the game played at ND stadium I do have a comment on the QB situation. <br/> <br/> It is obvious to me as a mere fan that Clausen is and will be the best QB for the Irish of the three. First of all, he just has "it". Although he was only in for a few minutes you could see and feel it. You Irish fans know what I'm talking about. I knew it when I saw Brady Quinn play for first time and I'm positive JC has the same qualities and probably more than Quinn. <br/> <br/> I didn't say he was the best athlete, that for sure is DJ. But CW is never going to consistantly run an offense that will take advantage of what DJ brings to the table. We already know what CW can do with the style of QB that JC is. <br/> <br/> NDs problem is that our lack of experience on the O-Line will make JC's impact a little more delayed than it would have been had he had an entire experienced line to start with. So he WILL take a lot of lumps, bumps, bangs and hits this year until the O-Line gets it together. <br/> <br/> The good new is that we have the talent and it will develop on both the O-Line and at QB. <br/> <br/> I'm sure that eventually DJ will either switch positions or transfer eventually but I guess that is the price you pay. I don't like it but it is true.<br/> <br/> JC is the QB for the Irish. win or lose, CW needs to put him in now and let him get his baptism under fire. It will pay dividends in the future.<br/> <br/> Lastly, I look forwrd to the day when I can look at a game and not still feel the influence of Tyrone Willingham. Last sat you could still see some of the lasting effects of the TW era when you consider the lack of experience on the O-line. His recruiting ineptness has left us where we are right now. Thankfully that is being reslolved quite nicely by CW and company but fans like myself will have to pay the price until thed gaps are overcome. <br/> <br/> I'm looking forward to the game at penn state this sat. Win or lose. I just want to see JC and the boys. <br/> <br/> <br/> One quck note on the Defense. With what they have and they way the game went I felt pretty good about how they performed. I feel like if the offense had been able to help them at all, they probably would have held GT to under 21 points. <E>8)</E></r>
Corey I have a feeling there is very little in the mainstream sports media that you do actually agree with. Maybe if everyone was on the ND bandwagon chortling up the Irish then all would seem right. Is it me? Am I overlooking the mass commentary and singling out special comments that suit my opinion or are these comments prevailing? I believe I try to be objective in what I am seeing and hearing and I try to throw out the extremes one way or the other. When certain ideas about specific teams are floated out by several sources in the media those ideas or opinions begin to assume more validity IMHO.
rather than attack you MCG <t>Its not about being on the band wagon, its about writing factual content.. Something they seem to struggle with greatly.</t>
I have a little different question for you ND fans. When the Irish win their first game, how many players will it take to carry Charlie off the field? :wink: Don