The Jimmy Clausen Era Begins

You know what the best part about taking this last weekend off was?

I didn't have to write anything about Notre Dame's loss on Saturday.

I knew the Irish were going to struggle this season, but a 33-3 loss wasn't what I was expecting. Did I think Demetrius Jones would tear things up? No, that's why I thought Sharpley should have been the starter. Neither did well on Saturday, but Sharpley inspired more confidence than Demetrius.

Then Jimmy Clausen came in. He looked much better than either Sharpley or Jones, but didn't really put any points on the board either. Also, he was facing a Georgia Tech team that had taken it's starting defense out, and essentially had called off the dogs.

As I was watching, I thought to myself, "Shit. Now Clausen is going to start next week."

It's not that I don't think Clausen is good enough to become a good quarterback at Notre Dame. It's just I don't think he's ready yet. So having him start his first college game in Happy Valley against a Penn State team that played well in their opener could be asking for trouble.

Unfortunately, Charlie Weis doesn't care what I think.

Freshman Jimmy Clausen, who went into the season opener as Notre Dame’s No. 3 quarterback after offseason arm surgery, will start Saturday against Penn State.

Coach Charlie Weis opened his Tuesday news conference by announcing his decision but did not immediately elaborate on the reason for his choice.

So it appears the Clausen Era has begun in South Bend. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and Clausen will come out and throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns.

It wouldn't really surprise me, I mean Clausen is talented. The problem is ND's offensive line. They looked like a Pop Warner team trying to block Georgia Tech's blitz schemes. You don't think the Nittany Lions are going to see what Tech did and work it into their gameplan this week?

This is going to be a long season.