A Weis Decision? (Ba Boom Tish)
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by Tyduffy
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has announced that Jimmy Clausen will be the starting quarterback against Penn St. on Saturday. Clausen was, by many accounts, the #1 overall recruit in the class of 2007. Clausen was projected initially to be the starter, but was hampered in his off-season preparation. He was 4-6 for 34 yards last weekend.
Weis stated "I'm not going to play musical chairs with our quarterbacks." Though, he did play three quarterbacks, including Clausen, in last weekend's 33-3 destruction by Georgia Tech (only trumped by Michigan's incompetence) and pulled his annointed starter less than a week later.
The loss at the weekend was, perhaps, the worst under Weis' tenure at the school. His vaunted passing attack managed a mere 130 yards. Irish quarterbacks were sacked nine times, and the running game only managed 44 yards. It was the third-straight blowout, following a 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl and a 44-24 loss to USC.
The change at quarterback will be pivotal for both Clausen and Weis. Clausen will be under immense pressure to right the ship and fill the perceptively large shoes of Brady Quinn. If he doesn't contribute immediately, it could be Weis who has to answer for it.
Charlie won over the ND faithful during his initial 9-3 season, but the team was a disappointment at 10-3 last season after being ranked #2 in the pre-season poll. The fans remained faithful despite bad losses in both bowl games and rivarly games versus USC and Michigan last season, but would they accept a Willinghamesque return to 6-6? (Considering they have at Penn St., at Michigan, at Purdue, at UCLA, Boston College, and USC remaining on the schedule).
Right now, Jimmy Claussen resembles the central casting quarterback. He has the swagger at 17 years old to sign autographs and rile up the crowd at Notre Dame. He has the sick spikey hairdo and has no problem showing off his sweet high-school championship rings. He probably wears his varsity jacket, drives a Camaro, and dates the head cheerleader as well. But, if Notre Dame is going to salvage this season, he will need to resemble Montana or Theismann rather than James Vanderbeek.
originally posted here.
