Santa Clausen Leads Notre Dame to 49-21 Rout of Hawaii

Jimmy "Santa" Clausen threw five touchdown passes and led Notre Dame to a 49-14 rout of the University of Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl today.  The Irish were able to break a nine consecutive bowl game-losing streak and they left no doubt as to whom the better team was in this one.

In the past, the Irish had occasionally declined invitations to minor bowls but this year they decided to travel to Aloha Stadium with a 6-6 record and play a 7-6 Hawaii team.  This proved to be a good decision and they were able to cruise their way to an easy win.

Besides ending the streak of bowl losses, Notre Dame wanted to finish 2008 with a winning record. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen took control from early in the first quarter.

Clausen, Notre Dame's sophomore signal caller from Westlake Village, California, had a career day!  He completed 22 of 26 passes for 401 total yards.  Five of those completions went for touchdowns.

Notre Dame went into the locker room at the half with a 28-7 lead and scored 21 third quarter points to put the game away. 

They did it all in the air.  The running game only produced 65 total yards but they didn't need it—the passing game was almost perfect.

Clausen's favorite receiver, another sophomore, Golden Tate had a career day of his own. Tate caught six passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

This victory was a huge Christmas present for head coach Charlie Weis who was berated with criticism after this season's 4-1 start turned into disaster.  Things got really bad for Weis after a home loss to Syracuse led to speculation he wouldn't be back next year as coach.

Today's win was also a way for players to say thanks to Mike Haywood, Notre Dame's offensive coordinator.  Haywook just accepted the head caoching job at Miami of Ohio and won't return next year.

Winning the season's final game is a great way to say goodbye to the seniors and winning, the way the Irish did today, sends a solid message to future recruits and commitments that this program is for real.