Notre Dame Failure Not on Jimmy Clausen's Shoulders

Notre Dame's sophomore quarterback has been taking as much beating off the field as on it as of late. Scrutiny is to be expected as a highly touted recruit in the most important position on the most watched team in college football.

With half of the college football world hoping you fail, and the other half demanding perfection, playing the quarterback position at Notre Dame is much like negotiating a mine field blindfolded.

Ever since Beano Cook's prediction of two Heisman trophies for the last big-time Irish quarterback recruit, the road has been bumpy for the signal caller in South Bend. Even Brady Quinn, who for all accounts elevated the play of the team around him, couldn't escape scorn as his Irish career wound down.

Despite re-writing the record book in South Bend, Quinn was labelled as a player who "couldn't win the big game". Never mind that he was completely out manned against LSU, Michigan, USC, and Ohio State. The scrutiny was there.

So it is for Jimmy Clausen. The now beleaguered signal-caller wound down his second regular campaign in South Bend Saturday night with a soft thud on the turf at the Los Angeles Coliseum as he and his Irish brethren were man handled and beaten by the Men of Troy.

The season that at times showed so much promise and so much hope wound down to a disastrous ending. Clausen himself produced little. Hitting on half of his attempts for only 41 yards and an interception that was as much on Kyle Rudolph as the quarterback himself. The game was reflective of the last half of the Irish season, where little went right, and even lining up in a correct formation was a struggle.

Notre Dame Football is a lowly phrase these days, jeers and sneers come from all around kicking the wounded while they are down. Head Coach Charlie Weis is the primary focus of these attacks, but not far behind is Clausen.

"Over-rated" and " Over-hyped" are the most common charges against the sophomore. Many are beginning to suggest turning to Dayne Christ for the bowl game, if not for next season. I ask a more careful examination of Clausen's performance, and ask whether the experience he is gaining in failure could lead to a better future?

The largest knock on Clausen are the interceptions. He throws too many to be sure. But young Quarterbacks always do. Only once this season, in the loss at Boston College did Clausen throw more than two (four) in one game. Four times he threw zero picks.

From his first year to his second, he improved greatly in many areas. His release was much quicker, and his pocket awareness improved immensely. Sack totals dropped from 34 to 20, while completion percentage increased 3 percent despite 160 more attempts. Every measurable number was better except for interceptions, which remain at a 7:6 ratio against touchdowns.

Worrisome to many is the decline of production from the first six games to the last six games, as well as play against "quality" opponents. To be sure, the team played dismally over the last half of the year, and Clausen does not escape scorn. But I argue that there is more behind the numbers to help ease the burden on No. 7.

In the loss at Michigan State, certainly a "poor" performance by any standard, Clausen finished 24-of-41 for 242 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The Spartans sacked Clausen three times, marking the first three sacks on an Irish QB in 2008. When not having Clausen attempt a pass, the Irish could do little else, rushing 22 times for 16 yards. Brandon Walker also missed a pair of field goals.

In the win against Stanford, Notre Dame held off a furious fourth quarter comeback attempt by the Cardinal turning a comfortable 28-7 lead into a nail-biting 28-21 win. The Irish were shouldered by Clausen who turned in a solid performance hitting on 29-of-40 attempts for 347 yards with three touchdowns and no picks. Clausen was only sacked once, despite the Irish gaining little control of the offensive line, rushing 27 times for only 83 yards.

In the loss at North Carolina, Clausen threw on bad pass that was returned for a touchdown on what was otherwise his best day in Blue and Gold. He finished 31 of 48 for 383 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT and was sacked four times. He also almost led the Irish on a manic last second game winning drive were it not for completely bizarre officiating on a Michael Floyd fumble. To keep the Irish in a position to win, Clausen had to again bear the burden as the Irish never established a running game attempting 30 carries for just 89 yards.

The win at Washington was nearly phoned in by the entire Irish offense. Washington was bad enough to allow Notre Dame to run 49 times for a season-high 252 yards and control the game from start to finish. Clausen had a slow night, going 14-of-26 for 201 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

The loss to Pittsburgh was again confounding because it was one of Clausen's best performances of the year. The offense in fact played well enough to win. Brandon Walker even connected on 5-of-6 field goals (the last one being a killer, of course). The defense collapse in this game, allowing a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Clausen finished 23-of-44 for 271 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Irish respectably rushed 39 times for 115 yards.

The BC game really began the funeral march that was the 2008's culmination. In the loss, Notre Dame was more offensive than playing offense. Despite being sacked only once, at no point did the Irish line control anyone. Notre Dame rushed the ball 21 times for only 66 yards. Clausen threw the ball 46 times, connecting on 26 for 226 yards. The 4 INT are a career high for Clausen, and the game marked a low point in the sophomore's play.

Clausen's BC hangover seemed to extend into the Navy game, where he was hit early and often despite only being sacked once. The small but quick Navy defensive front pressured the passer from the outset, forcing Clausen into two first half interceptions and leading Notre Dame to do something that they had really not attempted yet during the 2008 campaign- establish the run.

The Irish carried 51 times for 230 yards dominating the Midshipmen for three and one-half quarters until turning the game over to the second-string and nearly losing while proving to be unable to recover an onside kick. Clausen ironically had his career high completion percentage game, hitting 15 of 18. Only one ball actually hit the field-turf at M&T Bank Stadium! (Two were hauled in by Midshipmen.)

In the lower than lowpoint game, the loss at home, on Senior Day, to 2-8 Syracuse, again Clausen has no reason to hang his head. Penalties, total lack of a rushing attack, and the complete inability to tackle a ball carrier doomed the Irish. Overcoming a 28 carry 41 yard performance by the Irish ground game, Clausen went 22-39 for 291 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT, leaving the Irish with a lead before the Defense began it's implosion. He also would have completed a game-sealing pass to Allen that was called back on a down-field holding penalty on Kyle Rudolph. He also again led a furious last-second drive that ended in a Brandon Walker 54 yard field goal attempt (we all remember how that went).

In the finale, Notre Dame was a 30 point underdog. Playing at USC. What ensued was exactly what you'd expect to ensue. A season high in 4 sacks, season lows in completions, completion percentage, and pass yardage. Only the 16 yard output at Michigan State beats the 27 carry 50 yard showing against the Trojans.

For the season, Clausen finished with a line of 246-of-414, 59.5%, 2771 YDS, 20 TD, and 17 INT. As a team, the Irish rushed 402 times for 1,361 yards. ON THE SEASON. As a team, 1,361 yards.

Only twice, against Washington and against Navy, did Notre Dame control the line of scrimmage. Only in those two games did Notre Dame's line play like it had the size advantage that it carried almost all year.

For most of the season, the Irish line had trouble opening running lanes, and had trouble protecting the passer. Twenty sacks is an improvement, but it's nothing to go around grinning about. That number would have been higher had Clausen not been better about moving out of the pocket and throwing the ball away.

By the North Carolina game, Notre Dame could not run the football and could not pick up a blitz, and the opposing coaches new it. The Notre Dame coaching staff could not, or would not alter their approach and change schemes to help protect Clausen, and maybe establish a ground game, and losses followed.

When you are Notre Dame, or anywhere outside the Big 12 South, passing may be pretty, and may put you on SportsCenter, but it is the run that wins you games. The ability to control the line and run the football helps out the passing game, it helps out the defense, and it controls the clock. Notre Dame lost three games because it could not run the ball, and defenses could pressure the quarterback without a blitz.

The winning coaches made half-time adjustments and took away Notre Dame's strength (until the Floyd injury, the outside passing game) and made them run at them. The result was the defense being on the field way too long and subsequent collapse. Stanford was the first to exploit this weakness in a near comeback. Any ability to run the football could have also greatly impacted the outcomes of the Michigan State game, as well as the BC game.

The frustration is that the Irish line has size, supposed to have talent, but they are not performing. The blame, and to large extent credit, always fall on the Quarterback. The true culprit lies elsewhere for the Irish. Even the most talented of skilled players cannot be successful if there is no line to block for them.

Notre Dame is not talented enough to be among college football's elite. Not yet. But they have talent. At receiver. At running back. At tight end. And at quarterback. Clausen played better than the record indicates. He is a true sophomore who was placed into a must throw situation way too often. He was thrown against more prepared defenses that new exactly what was coming at them. He was asked to be perfect.

And he wasn't.

Next year, the team will be one year older. Clausen will be one year wiser. It is up to the coaching staff (whom ever that may be) to fix the line, and give the Irish a running game. Clausen will improve, even if only by the same margin he improved between his frosh and sophomore campaigns. Clausen was not the problem, but the easier target.

There are a lot of decisions, and a lot of changes to be made in South Bend. But quarterback shouldn't be one of them.