First of all, I have not been comfortable with him since he showed up to announce for ND in a stretch limo. Lately he has reinforced my initial impression. His "barfight" was not as advertised and his black eye(s) were earned as his ass couldn't cover the tab his mouth ran up. And my last impression of him will be his continued yapping at Harbaugh and the Stanford bench from the field, right up to the moment they punked him in his final start. Turns out he is one hell of a QB, clearly the most polished of those who are eligible for the NFL draft this year. He'll go in the first round and will be the first QB taken. I'm probably the only Irish fan who is NOT dismayed over his departure.
I liked everything about Clausen, he took a beating as freshman and was never 100% recovered from the elbow surg in May 2007, not to mention he had a swiss cheese OL. But he kept coming back, getting up off the deck. He might be a little chippy, but he's a fierce competitor who's never out of the game. I wish he were coming back next year along with Golden Tate. But I don't blame him for going to the NFL early. He's ready, next year is not likely to be a "special" year for the Irish, hopefully better than this year but we won't contend for the Nat'l Championship and unless he puts up silly stats he wouldn't be in the mix at the end for the Heisman. That Purdue game convinced me that he's the real deal. If we had had an even top 50 defense we'd be in a BCS bowl game and maybe even undefeated.
Clausen <r>I got no problem with Clausen's attitude at all. had it been me, I would have called Harbaugh a lot worse things than Jimmy did. Hell, he deserves to have a chip on his shoulder after the way his first 2 seasons went. Just wish he were coming back for one more.<E>8)</E></r>
If he played for any team in the top 10, would that team be substantially better? The answer is yes... including Florida.
He's a great player.... a tough competitor. But he doesn't make the runs Tebow does in critical times when every beast on the other side of the line knows what's coming. For a college Qb....I'll take Tebow. Also, Tebow was 17-21 vs. FSU and Cooper dropped a nice throw right in his chest. TT can throw it well also.
Florida State has the what... 108th ranked defense? My mom could drop 150 on them. With Clausen, you wouldn't need to be grinding on all those plays... I guess we'll see. Draft day is coming up soon enough.
for perspective... Notre Dame's defense is ranked 21 spots higher than Florida St in total yardage and 32 spots higher in points per game given up... And we sucked ass...
Corey, you obviously missed where MCG said as a college QB. Last I knew that had nothing to do with the NFL draft. Also you comment about FSU's defense is true except that does not mean that the Gators would change their offense to run up more points. So we grind it out and only score 37 points. That's not an indication of anything either other than the Gators did their thing. Of course I think you knew both things but just can't resist getting a shot at the Gators. :wink: :wink:
Bill... Why did Dave feel it necessary to insert Tebow into a discussion of Clausen? I think the reaction was mild compared to what was possible...
Clausen <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Clausen was never in an offense that asked him to do that. <br/> <br/> ...and Tebow doesn't make 80yd touchdown pasess on a regular basis either. <br/> <br/> Tebow's days of glory are done. Clausen's are just beginning.</r>
Tim Tebow is a great college QB. He's a different style QB than Clausen and you can't really compare the two QB's. You could compare Tebow to Vince Young, or Alex Smith or any of the other college QB's who run the ball as much as Tebow has in his career. But you can't fairly compare Tebow to Clausen, Sanchez, Stafford, Lineart, Bradford, Jevan Snead, or even Jamarus Russell. Also Tim played on teams during his 4 years that were loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. That helped him to excell at what he does best. What Tim does as a Pro will have no bearing on his college career. Tim Tebow will be a College Football Hall of Fame member whenever he is eligible and he'll make it the first year he is eligible.....although you do have to have been an All-American at least 1x in your career. Joe Montana will never be a member of the College Football HOF for that reason.
I like Tebow a lot. I'm just saying, if Jimmy Clausen is the starting QB for any team in the top 10, they are a better team because of it. Now Florida fans can insert Tebow into this argument and that's just fine. I understand your orange and blue tinted glasses, but I would like to take note that you didn't decide to stand up for the other 9 QBs in the top 10. One of whom, Colt McCoy, is pretty damn legit in his own right. Scott asked the golden question here.
Tim, not to get in it with you again, but first Tebow threw quite a few long TD passes in his career. This season that was not the Gator mode of operation. As far as glory days over and whose is just starting. First you don't know that, and second if I had to choose glory days for my favorite players, it would be college where no one shined better than Tebow. Terry, as usual the guy with the realistic outlook.
Probably a good question Scott. Let me just say I would be happy if Clausen was my QB, I think he will have a successful pro career and back out of this conversation.
Before I move on Scott, let me say that this post by Corey was before Dave posted. Like Dave I think disagree. It would seem Corey is looking at things through his Notre Dame glasses and I see no way in the world that Florida is better with our offense. Having said that I think there is a good possibility that Clausen is better in the pros than Tebow. Not a given but very possible. Since Corey brought Florida up, let me say that there is no QB in the country that us Gators would have preferred to Tim Tebow. But for the record Corey inserted the Gators into the conversation not Dave.