The Perfect Storm

The Irish will go undefeated this year. Bold, I know, but everything is set into place for the Irish to complete the task. The only question of whether or not Notre Dame will achieve perfection is whether Jimmy Clausen can finally live up to his hype. The answer to that question.. Yes, he will. I have compiled a list of reasons the Irish will live up to their name...

- First and foremost, Jimmy Clausen now has more playing time than any Junior in College Football. He has started 23 of 25 games that he has been at Notre Dame. With this experience he will become more composed in the pocket, he will not force as many throws that lead to costly errors last season, and he will become more comfortable with the quick collegiate game. Experience matters people.

-In 2005 the Irish went 9-3 with a BCS bowl game. Although 9-3 is not perfect, it is still a solid record, and during that year Notre Dame defeated two ranked teams in a row (Pittsburgh, Michigan), something Irish fans still are yearning for. During this 2005 season, the Irish were lead by junior, Brady Quinn. Although some may say Jimmy Clausen does not have what it takes to be Notre Dame's next Brady Quinn, bite your tongue please. Jimmy Clausen, in fact, will have a better Junior year than Quinn did for a couple of different reasons. First, Jimmy Clausen as a junior will have more experience and playing time then Quinn did as a junior. Second, Jimmy Clausen will throw behind a more seasoned line, one of the most veteran line's in college football, mind you, than Quinn did. Thirdly, Jimmy Clausen has more weapons than Brady Quinn had. Golden Tate and Michael Floyd had a combined 1799 yard, 17 touchdown year during Clausen's sophomore campaign. During Quinn's sophomore campaign, Stovall and Samardzija had a 587, 1 touchdown campaign, not even close to what Tate and Floyd had... And the scary part is, Samardzija and Stovall during Quinn's junior year had a whopping 2398 yard, 26 touchdown year... If that were to happen to Tate and Floyd's stats, that would be adding 900 yards and 13 touchdowns to each one of their receiving totals.... which would be unGodly... Now I know this seems highly impossible and ludacris, but really, who's to say it can't happen? With a more experienced line and better weapons than Quinn had, why can't Clausen do the impossible? Quite frankly, I believe in Clausen's abilities and I believe this could actually happen, maybe not to Tate and Floyd respectfully, but to other potential break-out weapons like Armando Allen, Kyle Rudolph, Duval Kamara, Shaquelle Evans, or anyone else. And with such a cup-cake schedule, which an average passing defense ranked 52nd in the nation (200.9 ypg), why can't Clausen put up numbers, parallel to or better than, Quinn's 2005 numbers. The fact of the matter is, he can. Clausen can and will put up numbers far exceeding Quinn's numbers. He wasn't ranked as the top overall prospect in the country for nothing. Just be patient, Jimmy will shine.

-Now we all now the Irish rushing game has been our Achilles heel since Quinn left, but I believe that in 2009 our woes will come to an end. Ever since the departure of Darius Walker, no one has been able to fill in his footsteps. Irish fans alike have been begging for a 1000 yard runner, and no one has stepped up. Now comes the time for Armando Allen to shine. His potential is boundless and I believe he will show is true self this coming Fall. Despite only rushing for 585 yards last season, Allen will run for 1000 yards. Why do I say this? For many different reasons... Statiscally, Allen has a better yards per carry than 1000 yard rusher Darius Walker did his freshman year (4.33 vs. 4.25 ypc) And while only touching the ball on average 11 times a game, versus Walker who touched it around 16, Armando Allen still racked up an impressive 1549 all purpose yards, more than Walker gained in his 1196 yard rushing campaign in 2005. And keep in mind, Allen has ran behind one of the worst lines in college football, which in 2007 lead the nations in sacks allowed and broke the NCAA record for most sacks allowed in a season..... something no Irish lineman or fan is proud of. And along with a more veteran line, comes a new line coach, Frank Verducci, from which what I have heard, has already tremendously help the Irish and will continue to help the Irish offensive game. Also, with the move of James Aldridge to fullback, there will be about 8 more carries given out between Allen and Hughes, which will probably be headed Allen's way. With the addition of new running backs coach, Tony Alford, who coached the 2006 Louisville runners who boasted an impressive 188.67 yards per game, which was 12th in the nation. Although, sometimes stats are misleading... but, Allen, in my opinion, seemed to hit his holes faster, harder, and with more confidence than I had seen before during the Blue and Gold game, which in fact, landed him the games offensive MVP, an award which I think will be given to him at the end of the 2009 season as well.. Armando Armando Allen is a more versatile and quicker player than Darius Walker was, which sets the precedent for a tremendous Junior year, something long awaited for by many Irish fans.

-New Recruits: The Irish bring in a highly-touted, talented, but young group of recruits for 2009. The cream of the crop being Manti Teo. Being ESPN's #2 rated overall recruit behind LSU's Russell Sheppard, Manti Teo is the biggest defensive recruit Notre Dame has ever picked up. Manti will start, but no one for sure knows how much time will be sent his way. Packed in between a deep Irish linebacking core, Manti's impact could be anywhere from none to a lot. No one knows for sure. But many know for sure that the addition of previously 5 star ranked Cierre Wood, 4 star Shaquelle Evans, and Offensive Linemen, Chris Watt and Alex Bullard, will bolster the already overflowing Irish offensive depth chart. Depth is good, very good.

-Going back to the comparison between Quinn's 2004 year and Clausen's 2008 year, I couldn't help but noticing some uncanny similarities... Quinn posted 2586 yards, 17 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.9 in his sophomore year. Clausen in his sophomore year may not have performed much better, but nonetheless better than Quinn who went on to become a Heisman trophy candidate and a first round NFL draft pick. So if Clausen has performed better than Quinn did in his junior year he should perform better than Quinn's junior year, am I right? If I am, that means Clausen will surpass an astonishing 3919 yard, 32 touchdown, 7 interception, 158.4 passer rating season. And if so, Clausen will become a likely top 10 quarterback, a Heisman candidate, and a first round lock for the NFl.. in his Junior year. And I bodly believe Clausen will in fact accomplish this amazing feat. Clausen has been the best Irish quarterback in history during his first two seasons. Say what??? Yes, its true. Although his first two seasons have been a disaster, in all reality, he has done what no Irish quarterback has ever done before, and is on his way to start more games than any other Irish quarterback. So if in fact he has so far out performed previous Irish greats such as Paul Hornung, Joe Theisman, Joe Montana, Brady Quinn, Tony Rice, and countless others in his first two years, he will continue to do so in his next two. He can do it, but he needs to be the #1 overall high school football propsect that he was in 2006. He can and will do it. He has the arm, he has the weapons, he has the line, he has the schedule, he has the coach, he has the spotlight. He's the Golden Boy in every since of the word. 2009 has shone a spotlight on Jimmy Clausen brighter than any other spotlight shone on an Irish quarterback. Everything rests on his shoulders.

So, as the 2009 season unfolds, more scrutiny and interest will be laid on Fighting Irish football than ever before. But I believe, such as every Irish fan should, that the Irish will live up to every definition of their name, "Fighting." They will fight in every sense of the world to claw their way back to the top of the College Football world where they belong. All is set, all is laid in front of the Irish. This season will be determined by how much the Irish want it, how much more they want it than the team battling opposite. Everything is aligned for the Irish, 2009 is the Perfect Storm... will it crash upon the Irish? or will it lead them to Glory? only September 5th can tell..