D
Doomsday Device
Guest
Here's a listing of how top recruits who've started games as true freshman have fared over the last 5 seasons (so no Brohm, Keller etc.). I listed in the first line how their first start went; when it was, the opponent, and then the numbers. The next line indicates their full season stats.
First starts uniformly were unimpressive, except for Willie Tuitama and Nate Davis's. And Davis and Tuitama both had their starts against teams that were in the bottom 10 in the NCAA in pass defence. Clausen will instead be going against one of the best in the nation. In fact the only other first start of note is Chris Leak's which is good until you get to the 2 interceptions. It's seems likely, considering the opponent, that Clausen fits in with the majority and throws a lot of short passes and the main objective is not to not turnover the ball too much.
As for the full seasons, they cover a fairly wide spectrum. A best case scenario of perhaps Chad Henne to the mind-boggingly awful sub 40 completion percentage of "Juice" Williams. I think Clausen is probably better prepared and more polished to varying degrees than all the QBs on this list. But, he's also in a more challenging situation with a young and to this point ineffective O-Line and a difficult opening schedule. There's really not a great comparable, but these stats are nteresting nonetheless.
2006
Mitch Mustain - Arkansas
Gm 2: vs Utah State 9/17 119 1TD 0INT
69/132 (52.3%) 894 10TD 9INT
Matthew Stafford - Georgia
Gm 3: vs UAB 10/17 107YDS 0TD 0INT
135/256 (52.7%) 1749 7TD 13INT
Juice Williams - Illinois
Gm 4: vs Iowa 9/32 161 1TD 3INT
103/261 (39.5%) 1489 9TD 9INT
Josh Freeman - Kansas State
Gm 6: vs Oklahoma State 10/17 177 0TD 0INT
140/270 (51.9%) 1780 6TD 15INT
Thaddeus Lewis - Duke
Gm 1: vs Richmond 15/24 148 0TD 0INT
180/240 (52.9%) 2134 11TD 16INT
Nate Davis - Ball State
Gm 5: vs Northern Illinois 27/38 298 4TD 0INT
150/245 (61.2%) 1975 18TD 8INT
2005
Willie Tuitama - Arizona
Gm 8: vs Oregon State 13/22 335 2TD 0INT
82/142 (57.7%) 1105 9TD 5INT
2004
Chad Henne - Michigan
Gm 1: vs Miami(OH) 14/24 142 2TD 1INT
240/399 (60.2%) 2743 25TD 12INT
Erik Ainge - Tennessee
Gm 4: vs Auburn 17/35 173 1TD 4INT
109/198 (55.1%) 1452 17TD 9INT
Brent Schaeffer - Tennessee
Gm 1: vs UNLV 7/10 123 1TD 0INT
18/37 (48.6%) 302 2TD 1INT
2003
Chris Leak - Florida
Gm 5: vs Kentucky 20/35 268 2TD 2INT
190/320 (59.4%) 2435 16TD 11INT
Brady Quinn - Notre Dame
Gm 4: vs Purdue 29/59 297 1TD 4INT
157/332 (47.3%) 1831 9TD 15INT
Reggie Ball - Georgia Tech
Gm 1: vs BYU 15/24 147 0TD 1INT
181/350 (51.7%) 1996 10TD 11INT
2002
Drew Olson - UCLA
Gm 9: vs Washington 13/27 189 0TD 0INT
53/104 (51.0%) 702 3TD 4INT
Matt Moore - UCLA
Gm 8: vs Stanford 7/19 142 1TD 0INT
33/62 (53.2%) 412 2TD 0INT
Brandon Kirsch - Purdue
Gm 8: vs Michigan 17/33 172 1TD 0INT
79/134 (59.0%) 1067 8TD 5INT
First starts uniformly were unimpressive, except for Willie Tuitama and Nate Davis's. And Davis and Tuitama both had their starts against teams that were in the bottom 10 in the NCAA in pass defence. Clausen will instead be going against one of the best in the nation. In fact the only other first start of note is Chris Leak's which is good until you get to the 2 interceptions. It's seems likely, considering the opponent, that Clausen fits in with the majority and throws a lot of short passes and the main objective is not to not turnover the ball too much.
As for the full seasons, they cover a fairly wide spectrum. A best case scenario of perhaps Chad Henne to the mind-boggingly awful sub 40 completion percentage of "Juice" Williams. I think Clausen is probably better prepared and more polished to varying degrees than all the QBs on this list. But, he's also in a more challenging situation with a young and to this point ineffective O-Line and a difficult opening schedule. There's really not a great comparable, but these stats are nteresting nonetheless.
2006
Mitch Mustain - Arkansas
Gm 2: vs Utah State 9/17 119 1TD 0INT
69/132 (52.3%) 894 10TD 9INT
Matthew Stafford - Georgia
Gm 3: vs UAB 10/17 107YDS 0TD 0INT
135/256 (52.7%) 1749 7TD 13INT
Juice Williams - Illinois
Gm 4: vs Iowa 9/32 161 1TD 3INT
103/261 (39.5%) 1489 9TD 9INT
Josh Freeman - Kansas State
Gm 6: vs Oklahoma State 10/17 177 0TD 0INT
140/270 (51.9%) 1780 6TD 15INT
Thaddeus Lewis - Duke
Gm 1: vs Richmond 15/24 148 0TD 0INT
180/240 (52.9%) 2134 11TD 16INT
Nate Davis - Ball State
Gm 5: vs Northern Illinois 27/38 298 4TD 0INT
150/245 (61.2%) 1975 18TD 8INT
2005
Willie Tuitama - Arizona
Gm 8: vs Oregon State 13/22 335 2TD 0INT
82/142 (57.7%) 1105 9TD 5INT
2004
Chad Henne - Michigan
Gm 1: vs Miami(OH) 14/24 142 2TD 1INT
240/399 (60.2%) 2743 25TD 12INT
Erik Ainge - Tennessee
Gm 4: vs Auburn 17/35 173 1TD 4INT
109/198 (55.1%) 1452 17TD 9INT
Brent Schaeffer - Tennessee
Gm 1: vs UNLV 7/10 123 1TD 0INT
18/37 (48.6%) 302 2TD 1INT
2003
Chris Leak - Florida
Gm 5: vs Kentucky 20/35 268 2TD 2INT
190/320 (59.4%) 2435 16TD 11INT
Brady Quinn - Notre Dame
Gm 4: vs Purdue 29/59 297 1TD 4INT
157/332 (47.3%) 1831 9TD 15INT
Reggie Ball - Georgia Tech
Gm 1: vs BYU 15/24 147 0TD 1INT
181/350 (51.7%) 1996 10TD 11INT
2002
Drew Olson - UCLA
Gm 9: vs Washington 13/27 189 0TD 0INT
53/104 (51.0%) 702 3TD 4INT
Matt Moore - UCLA
Gm 8: vs Stanford 7/19 142 1TD 0INT
33/62 (53.2%) 412 2TD 0INT
Brandon Kirsch - Purdue
Gm 8: vs Michigan 17/33 172 1TD 0INT
79/134 (59.0%) 1067 8TD 5INT
