[Lefty Noob]

Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen is currently making his NCAA debut. He entered the Georgia Tech game with about 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, trailing 33-3, and promptly overthrew an open receiver deep on his first pass attempt with the Irish. The future is now, apparently, for Charlie Weis's team. Think the kid will start next week?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Has to. For Weis to save face, he will have to say "look, we will take our lumps, but we are developing the kid"...enough said...I think it is what he will do. If not, he could have sat him the year.

[rmjvol]

What a thumping. I sure wish Jimmy had been the 3rd Clausen at Tennessee but I wish him well. He's gotta step up for the Irish.

[Lefty Noob]

I think he screwed up. Should've redshirted Clausen. Giving the kid time to develop the kid is more important than trying to save face. Clausen's going to get killed behind that offensive line, especially since the Irish have no discernable running game.

[MichiganGamecock]

I think J.C. (that's Clausen, not Jesus) was relatively safe in terms of getting hurt out there against GT. They had their entire 2nd team D in the game by that point and weren't blitzing nearly as much as they did Sharpley and Jones.

My beef with Weis if I were an Irish fan would be the gameplan in general going into the game. What was with the Lou Holtz type playcalling with Jones there at the beginning? No exaggeration, I think 19 of their first 20 plays were designed running plays. Perhaps Charlie knew his OL was in for a long day and chose to play it close to the vest hoping the athletic Jones could break one on his own. But no bootlegs with an option to pass/rollouts to get away from the pressure and take pressure off the OL? No bubble screen to WR to not allow GT time to get in backfield? No shots deep early on to make GT's defensive coaches to think twice about sending the extra guy?

The gameplan, the mental mistakes, the turnovers, the entire defense save for the red zone situations....this was as one-sided a game as I've ever seen but by no means is it a harbinger of a season to come. The coaching has to get better before the team can, that's all there is to it.

I would NOT start Clausen at Penn State though....just cuz the kid can throw against a 2nd team defense who's called the dogs off doesn't mean he's going to be able to duplicate that showing over the course of an entire game in Happy Valley. Start Sharpley, have J.C. watch closely and hope for the best...it's going to be a long year in South Bend, no need to risk your future just to make a few fans happy.

[MichiganGamecock]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

I think he screwed up. Should've redshirted Clausen. Giving the kid time to develop the kid is more important than trying to save face. Clausen's going to get killed behind that offensive line, especially since the Irish have no discernable running game.

Not to be picky but they don't 'redshirt' at Notre Dame, they do the 5th year senior thing instead.

Here's the scholly breakdown for ND as it stands now, in case anyone's interested; they have very few 5th year guys now which is one of the reasons they're going to struggle but not the only reason:

Scout.com

[Lefty Noob]

Great breakdown - welcome to GTG, MichiganGamecock. I'm with you - start Sharpley, at least for now. I unfortunately missed the early part of the game so I can't comment on the playcalling. At this point it doesn't seem like it really matters WHO starts at quarterback with that line playing as poorly as they did. Heard on ESPN's College Football Live yesterday that the reason could be that all those guys are required to learn two different position assignments and they rotate seven linemen, so no one gets set at any position for an entire game. IMO, that's a terrible idea!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by MichiganGamecock

I think J.C. (that's Clausen, not Jesus) was relatively safe in terms of getting hurt out there against GT. They had their entire 2nd team D in the game by that point and weren't blitzing nearly as much as they did Sharpley and Jones.

My beef with Weis if I were an Irish fan would be the gameplan in general going into the game. What was with the Lou Holtz type playcalling with Jones there at the beginning? No exaggeration, I think 19 of their first 20 plays were designed running plays. Perhaps Charlie knew his OL was in for a long day and chose to play it close to the vest hoping the athletic Jones could break one on his own. But no bootlegs with an option to pass/rollouts to get away from the pressure and take pressure off the OL? No bubble screen to WR to not allow GT time to get in backfield? No shots deep early on to make GT's defensive coaches to think twice about sending the extra guy?

The gameplan, the mental mistakes, the turnovers, the entire defense save for the red zone situations....this was as one-sided a game as I've ever seen but by no means is it a harbinger of a season to come. The coaching has to get better before the team can, that's all there is to it.

I would NOT start Clausen at Penn State though....just cuz the kid can throw against a 2nd team defense who's called the dogs off doesn't mean he's going to be able to duplicate that showing over the course of an entire game in Happy Valley. Start Sharpley, have J.C. watch closely and hope for the best...it's going to be a long year in South Bend, no need to risk your future just to make a few fans happy.

Welcome aboard...good take.

And yeah, I wouldn't play Clausen at Penn either ...but darn it...someone has to play...and now they committed to having him play this season

[MichiganGamecock]

Originally Posted by Gotham Dark Knight

And yeah, I wouldn't play Clausen at Penn either ...but darn it...someone has to play...and now they committed to having him play this season

Not necessarily...a lot of teams give young guys a series or two in one of the first games of the season and then have them get mysteriously injured in practice & they're given a medical redshirt/extra year as long as they don't play in a certain percentage of their teams' games or plays or something like that. I'm not exactly sure what the rule is but Jimmy's two series against GT doesn't mean he's burned a year of eligibility just yet.

I will say that Clausen looked very poised, the most accurate of the three ('cept for that first attempt that sailed long) and not the least bit overwhelmed. He's no Ron Pawlus, that's for sure. He's gonna be a good one.

[Lefty Noob]

Well, our opinions are apparently meaningless. Weis announced today that Clausen will start against the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

[MichiganGamecock]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Well, our opinions are apparently meaningless. Weis announced today that Clausen will start against the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

Hate to say it, but I think Mr. Clausen's 42 game winning streak is about to come to an abrupt end in Happy Valley. Stranger things have happened though...right UM fans?

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by MichiganGamecock

Hate to say it, but I think Mr. Clausen's 42 game winning streak is about to come to an abrupt end in Happy Valley. Stranger things have happened though...right UM fans?

I'd have to agree with you on that one. But hey, if he really IS the next Montana, he'll find a way to pull this one out, right?

[PVtrojans]

I think that the game plan was not one that a man with a super bowl ring should have come up with. They should have shot down field a couple of times, draw plays to slow down the blitz. Option passes. The line had a ROUGH time. I thought they would do better. Have you seen there sizes? HUGE. But GT made them look bad. Georgia Tech is not exactly a coaches dream choice for an opening game. I think that Penn St. will be a better game but I think the offense is too shaky at this point to win any games.

GO IRISH!!!!!!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Well, our opinions are apparently meaningless. Weis announced today that Clausen will start against the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

Ah...let it ride on the boy wonder...Weis trying to save his butt huh?

[bucky889]

As an ND fan, I am all about throwing Clausen in against PSU. Would I rather it was an easier game with less pressure in a quieter stadium? Of course. And I think Sharpley is an ok QB. But my thinking is this, if Notre Dame is in for a rough season, why not play the QB with the pedigree and the accolades? Sharpley has no killer instinct at all. He could never be more than a decent QB, Clausen with work could be one of the greats. Jones is almost a non-factor after he peed down his leg against GT. Notre Dame already has another hot QB recruit for the future, throw clausen into the fire and take your lumps. The fact that Sharpley would have that much more experience is an illusion. He played only token snaps behind Quinn anyway. It's not like we're pullinga veteran for a rookie, here. Both of them are new to the scene. So why would you not go with the potential? Especially if the season is looking like a rough one.