SoCalDomer
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Clausen a difference maker in 08?
- Thread starter SoCalDomer
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NDsuperfan09
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If the O-Line play improves Jimmy will breakout this season. Thats a huge IF though.
onenybrother
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He will not have a good year if we can't establish a running game.
goldandblue
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God I hope so, I cant go through another year like last year.
BDIrish4ever
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He played pretty much even with Brady Quinn's freshman year with a considerably worse offense. If the O-Line can pick up their play, Clausen will start to live up to the hype!
Newc
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The kid earned a ton of my respect last year and had a pretty good season considering the mess he had to deal with that was out of his control. For a freshman to be thrown into that situation and handle it the way he did, especially with the expectations we all had since day 1, I think Clausen showed he is ready to be a force at the QB position.
I really think this young team will come together better than it did last year and that chip on their shoulders from last year could end up making this team overachieve.
I really think this young team will come together better than it did last year and that chip on their shoulders from last year could end up making this team overachieve.
Mattmags
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Almost every player interview i have watched today, the players mentioned that they have "a chip on their shoulder." I hope they can do work in the Spring Practices.
WeisWeisBaby
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This team is going to come out crushing heads, MICHIGAN is going down!!!!!
Mattmags
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Let's take care of San Diego State first. After all, their name is derived from a whale's vagina...
NDsuperfan09
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word
That's great, hope it continues to the fall.
A
ALLND62
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What is their nickname............LMAO
NDsuperfan09
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I have heard it from numerous sources that his passes have a lot more zip on them and that his arm looks stronger. Clausen has unreal talent. He is as accurate as Quinn ever was here (when he gets time to throw), his mechanics are at an NFL level, he has a very good knowledge of the game, he has great touch on his throws, and he has a super quick release. With his arm being restored to full health and with a hopefully better Line this year he should take-off and start to live up to the hype. Last year told me he has the mental part down pat, and he is a tough son of a bitch. Now it's time for that to combine with his football talent and show everyone was he was so highly regarded coming out of Oaks Christian.
N
ndirishfan
Guest
I think that throwing to the wolves is going to make him a better QB. Last year he showed glimpses of greatness down the stretch. He is coming back health, got a chance to meet him for junior day in february and he relaxed and confident and ready to play. I am lookin forward to seeing how Crist does this spring.
IrishGrizz
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I agree w both of you that as ugly at times last year was, I think it will pay off this year. We took our lumps and we hould be the better for the experiance.
M
Moostache
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Woooo-Hoooo....spring ball and hope springs eternal!!!
Get your TiVO's ready for the season previews....no one is going to predict ND at better than 8-4 in 2008....and even then it would only be Herbsteit that gives them that much chance....10-2 regular season is VERY achievable in 2008....loss to USC at LA is pretty much a safe given (although I would not expect another routine ass-kicking this time out), and leaving room for a toe-stub loss the rest of the way (maybe UBiCH or scUM, but hopefully not either of those two) I am not sniffing glue or eating strange fungii to see 10-2and BCS or Gator Bowl on Jan 1, 2009! I think we need a good old fashion Irish football version of Obamania around here....someone cue the angelic choir for background music!!!! I DO NEED A PILLOW....
The douche-bags around the press and internet (Hansen, Forde, May, Fowler, FUCUM apologists or obnoxious UF-fans. UBiCH fans, and scUM fans, et. al.) will be spending as much time as possible trying to dump on ND's program and predicting gloom and doom as possible. I think its depressing to see the state of the program deteriorated to the point that a subset of Irish fans could easily be called the Golden Doomers these days and would be all to willing to join the chorus of the naysayers!!! It will all make for tasty crow to serve up video clips of the pre-season tripe to these media-asshats espeically in December!!! (Like the human-penis Mark May's 2005 pre-season proclamations of 0-7 or 1-6 were at the end of that campaign and BCS birth - still one of my favorite clips from the Oldie 2005 season highlight video!)
Much like 2005, they will all be dead wrong!!!!
The O-line WILL improve exponentially in 2008. Wenger out played Sullivan at center in his limited appearances. Sam Young will become a force in his third year of playing time (and as long as he stays healthy will start to get serious All-American discussion). Chris Stewart will find a way to get on the field - hopefully at RG - giving the Irsih a right side of the line that can be real road-graders and a "go-to" short yardage play set that has been lacking in the past 3-4 years. Give the ball to Hughes behidn the big uglies and grind out the 3-4 yard, time consuming drives and short yardage plays that make the defense respect the run - thus opening things up for Clasuen and effective play-action passing instead of jail-break blitzes that meet at #7! I look for Romine to beat out Duncan or Duncan to make huge strides that enable him to be a viable LT.
Speaking of Clasuen, he WILL be in the running for post-season awards as the best sophomore passer in the country (even overtaking Bradford at OU in the discussion!) - and his "renaissance" will be a lead story on SportsCenter in the week heading into the BC game, as people marvel at how improved he is (mainly due to being healthy and actually getting a chance to step into a pocket - instead of fleeing for his life on every snap)! Many stories will credit much of this turnaround to his health, but the true #1 source will be the emergence of the Irish O-line and running game AND his health.
The defensive backfield - led by Walls, Bruton and quality contributions from McCarthy (or Brown), Gray and McNeil will be ball hawking and hard-hitting. There will be more plays like Darrin's INT-return against PSU and fewer WRs and TEs running free through the secondary. By season's end, both Bruton and Walls will be getting All-American mentions and pro-scouts will be circling Darrin to entice him to leave school early...There will be hard hits and athletic INT grabs and electrifying returns. It will be fun to watch Irish pass defense again - for IRISH fans instead of for the opponents!!!
Ian Williams is going to become a stud - a bona-fide national stud, the kind of player that, you know, Notre Dame can't attract. His performance in 2007 was one of the most over-looked aspects of the season. His productivity in limited minutes was certainly something to be hopeful about for 2008 and beyond. Add in a rotation of Newman and Mullen to get Williams a blow and the anchor of the 3-4 this season can come from the NT sucking up blockers and disrupting plays once more.
On the pass rush, OLB Smith and Neal will start to be more consistent producers in their second full seasons. There will be more contributions from the likes of Mo Richardson and John Ryan and Pat Kuntz at DE and even a few memorable plays for freshmen like Johnson, Flemming or Filer. The fewer times the freshmen have to play, the better the prospects of the pass rush for the season
Several freshmen (and sophomores like Allen and Tate) will also ignite the ND special teams as Weis uses a few of Beamer's VT tactics to get athletes around the football in special teams situations - especially athletes who can make a play but may lack 'field experience' to be full-time contirbutors. I look for at least 3-4 game changing moments (returns, forced turnovers or blocked kicks) that turn the tides or open the floodgates!
To me, the biggest question mark is not the O-line or the DBs or even the DL depth....those things are KNOWN and being addressed by the staff and the players vis-a-vis position battles and influxes of younger talent to push older players to better performance that even they know they are capable of at this point...no, to me the biggest question mark is the kicking game. The difference between 8-4 and 10-2 could boil down to something like a 35-45 yard FG that is either attempted and made, attempted and missed or so iffy a proposition that the coach again feels the need to forgo the very attempt itself. Part of that is also Weis needing to learn not only from his own past mistakes, but also from the failures of Bellicheck the memntor (see SB 43, passing on FG attempt to go for a 4th and 13 and then losing by 3...). If the Irish can identify or develop a kicker of better than average accuracy from 35 - 45 yards out, then I will be very comfortable with my opening salvo of a 10-2 season as an outcome...
Get your TiVO's ready for the season previews....no one is going to predict ND at better than 8-4 in 2008....and even then it would only be Herbsteit that gives them that much chance....10-2 regular season is VERY achievable in 2008....loss to USC at LA is pretty much a safe given (although I would not expect another routine ass-kicking this time out), and leaving room for a toe-stub loss the rest of the way (maybe UBiCH or scUM, but hopefully not either of those two) I am not sniffing glue or eating strange fungii to see 10-2and BCS or Gator Bowl on Jan 1, 2009! I think we need a good old fashion Irish football version of Obamania around here....someone cue the angelic choir for background music!!!! I DO NEED A PILLOW....
The douche-bags around the press and internet (Hansen, Forde, May, Fowler, FUCUM apologists or obnoxious UF-fans. UBiCH fans, and scUM fans, et. al.) will be spending as much time as possible trying to dump on ND's program and predicting gloom and doom as possible. I think its depressing to see the state of the program deteriorated to the point that a subset of Irish fans could easily be called the Golden Doomers these days and would be all to willing to join the chorus of the naysayers!!! It will all make for tasty crow to serve up video clips of the pre-season tripe to these media-asshats espeically in December!!! (Like the human-penis Mark May's 2005 pre-season proclamations of 0-7 or 1-6 were at the end of that campaign and BCS birth - still one of my favorite clips from the Oldie 2005 season highlight video!)
Much like 2005, they will all be dead wrong!!!!
The O-line WILL improve exponentially in 2008. Wenger out played Sullivan at center in his limited appearances. Sam Young will become a force in his third year of playing time (and as long as he stays healthy will start to get serious All-American discussion). Chris Stewart will find a way to get on the field - hopefully at RG - giving the Irsih a right side of the line that can be real road-graders and a "go-to" short yardage play set that has been lacking in the past 3-4 years. Give the ball to Hughes behidn the big uglies and grind out the 3-4 yard, time consuming drives and short yardage plays that make the defense respect the run - thus opening things up for Clasuen and effective play-action passing instead of jail-break blitzes that meet at #7! I look for Romine to beat out Duncan or Duncan to make huge strides that enable him to be a viable LT.
Speaking of Clasuen, he WILL be in the running for post-season awards as the best sophomore passer in the country (even overtaking Bradford at OU in the discussion!) - and his "renaissance" will be a lead story on SportsCenter in the week heading into the BC game, as people marvel at how improved he is (mainly due to being healthy and actually getting a chance to step into a pocket - instead of fleeing for his life on every snap)! Many stories will credit much of this turnaround to his health, but the true #1 source will be the emergence of the Irish O-line and running game AND his health.
The defensive backfield - led by Walls, Bruton and quality contributions from McCarthy (or Brown), Gray and McNeil will be ball hawking and hard-hitting. There will be more plays like Darrin's INT-return against PSU and fewer WRs and TEs running free through the secondary. By season's end, both Bruton and Walls will be getting All-American mentions and pro-scouts will be circling Darrin to entice him to leave school early...There will be hard hits and athletic INT grabs and electrifying returns. It will be fun to watch Irish pass defense again - for IRISH fans instead of for the opponents!!!
Ian Williams is going to become a stud - a bona-fide national stud, the kind of player that, you know, Notre Dame can't attract. His performance in 2007 was one of the most over-looked aspects of the season. His productivity in limited minutes was certainly something to be hopeful about for 2008 and beyond. Add in a rotation of Newman and Mullen to get Williams a blow and the anchor of the 3-4 this season can come from the NT sucking up blockers and disrupting plays once more.
On the pass rush, OLB Smith and Neal will start to be more consistent producers in their second full seasons. There will be more contributions from the likes of Mo Richardson and John Ryan and Pat Kuntz at DE and even a few memorable plays for freshmen like Johnson, Flemming or Filer. The fewer times the freshmen have to play, the better the prospects of the pass rush for the season
Several freshmen (and sophomores like Allen and Tate) will also ignite the ND special teams as Weis uses a few of Beamer's VT tactics to get athletes around the football in special teams situations - especially athletes who can make a play but may lack 'field experience' to be full-time contirbutors. I look for at least 3-4 game changing moments (returns, forced turnovers or blocked kicks) that turn the tides or open the floodgates!
To me, the biggest question mark is not the O-line or the DBs or even the DL depth....those things are KNOWN and being addressed by the staff and the players vis-a-vis position battles and influxes of younger talent to push older players to better performance that even they know they are capable of at this point...no, to me the biggest question mark is the kicking game. The difference between 8-4 and 10-2 could boil down to something like a 35-45 yard FG that is either attempted and made, attempted and missed or so iffy a proposition that the coach again feels the need to forgo the very attempt itself. Part of that is also Weis needing to learn not only from his own past mistakes, but also from the failures of Bellicheck the memntor (see SB 43, passing on FG attempt to go for a 4th and 13 and then losing by 3...). If the Irish can identify or develop a kicker of better than average accuracy from 35 - 45 yards out, then I will be very comfortable with my opening salvo of a 10-2 season as an outcome...
Ultimate Penn St. Hater
Go Irish!
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Good job Moostache. Go Irish!
F
Football Head
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Jimmy Clausen is going to be just fine this year as he was fine last year in terms of his production based on the set of circumstances surrounding him and the bleak deck of cards he was handed when he stepped in. It's not Jimmy that I am worried about this year, it's the line which was horrible last year and Jimmy had no good featured, stud of a running back to hand the ball off to. In fact the Irish haven't had a stud running back since the "Bus" left and went into the NFL and I had to hold my nose everytime I watched Darius Walker starting in the backfield because he was "slow". Further, "Dayne Crist" is one talented, gifted QB coming in behind Clausen and Clausen is going to feel the competition with Christ. But the QB situation is the least of the worries for the Irish as the Irish are in serious need of an offensive line, a defensive line, cornerbacks, a running back and a couple of good receivers which I don't see them having this year.......but all we can do is to pray that the Irish do the best with what they have......and I believe they have a great QB situation with Clausen! Jimmy will be the light shining on the hill in this next year's offense.
irishmarine
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i think they are the aztecs
stonebreakerwasgod
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I think JC plays like a soph with experience. Good, but not great. Our O line is gonna be our biggest question mark and area of opportunity this year.
Exactly. I've said this like 5 times on this site: It starts with the line(s, Defense too!)
JeremyND07
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How the he%% is he as accurate as Quinn...did I miss something? I agree he will be much better this year but he is far from Quinn accuracy or NFL mechanics. Even when he did have time (RARELY) his passed floated a lot. JC has crazy potential but has not shown me much, so far. If the OL can run block this year we will need JC very little and that would really help his developement...if he has to throw for 25+ times in a game I think it is a loss this year.