Yards CMP% YPA TD-INT Rating
Player A 2586 54.1 7.33 17-10 125.87
Player B 3172 60.9 7.21 25-17 132.49
Looks like the Irish are right on track. Player A is Brady Quinn before his breakout junior season, while Player B is Jimmy Clausen from last year. The yards are skewed because Clausen threw more, but we can see at this stage in his development he is about where Quinn was at the same point. The YPA and TD-INT differential are the same, while Clausen completes almost 7% more of his passes.
Clausen, Weis, and the Irish have taken a lot of flak over the past two years, but the struggles should not have come as a surprise. Not every young QB is going to come in and put up big numbers from the get go like Sam Bradford in Oklahoma. With that said, Clausen has shown improvement from his freshmen to sophmore year, and there's no reason to believe he shouldn't continue his development in 2009.
He has emerging threats like Golden Tate and Michael Floyd at wide receiver, while Armando Allen and Robert Hughes are improving players in the backfield. In total, 10 of the 11 offensive starters will return for Notre Dame in 2009. This should give the Irish offense enough firepower for Clausen to put up big numbers in his junior campaign.
Now, I know what you're all thinking. What about the defense? It's a unit that will be young and inexperienced. That isn't necessary a bad thing. The Irish defense hasn't been anything to write home about in years, and maybe some young blood will bring some speed and aggression back to that side of the ball.
The unit also switches to a 4-3, but the players are young. This isn't Weis and his staff asking a bunch of seniors to change schemes. Manti Te'o will give the linebacking corps a big boost and the defensive line will be anchored by junior Ian Williams. If Ethan Johnson can tap into his potential, then the front seven will look good. A key to the secondary will be Harrison Smith making a smooth transition from linebacker to safety to replace David Bruton.
The schedule, aside from USC, is full of winnable games for the Irish. If Clausen and the offense improve and the defense gets even marginally better, this team can win 9 or 10 game next year.
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