Irish face some big holes to fill, especially at QB

Four-year starter Brady Quinn is gone and who will replace him is the key.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was in a sticky heat on Monday that heralded freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen walked across campus toward his first fall football practice at Notre Dame.

He wore sandals and a red T-shirt, rolled up to mid-chest. He carried one football shoe in each hand.

It marked a beginning, for sure, but of what?

More than being the answer for Irish football right now, Clausen is just one of many questions.

Although it has been reported as fact by some news outlets, Notre Dame still does not officially acknowledge that Clausen had minor surgery on his throwing arm in June.

However, third-year Irish Coach Charlie Weis put to rest the notion that Clausen will be stashed and saved for another year.

Three-man contest

Weis declared the quarterback position a three-man contest among Clausen, junior Evan Sharpley and sophomore Demetrius Jones.

Clausen, a freshman from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian High School and one of the most touted prep quarterbacks in a generation, is not yet allowed to speak with reporters.

For now, that’s Weis’ job.

“If people want to talk about procedures and being gone for the year, OK, he’s out there practicing today like I said he would be,” Weis said. “Would I say when we’re teeing off on Sept. 1, would Jimmy Clausen be capable of being our starting quarterback and slinging it 30 or 40 times, the answer would be ‘yes.’ ”

Weis may not name a starter until right before the opener against Georgia Tech. He says, for one thing, it gives his opponent more to think about. He also says he doesn’t know which of the three will emerge.

“If I still have three guys in the running, then I’m obviously not comfortable who the one guy is yet,” Weis said.

Jones is considered most athletic of the quarterbacks, Clausen the best pure passer with Sharpley somewhere in between.

Powlus knows the pressure

First-year quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus was careful not to single out Clausen even though Powlus, more than a decade ago, came to Notre Dame with similar hype out of high school.

Beano Cook famously said Powlus would win two Heisman Trophies at Notre Dame. Powlus didn’t win one.

“Sure there were high expectations, sure things were said,” Powlus said of his own career. “But that is life as the Notre Dame quarterback. You’re in the spotlight. People get to say what they want to say. Opinions come and go. That’s life in this position. Didn’t bother me then, doesn’t bother me now. My advice to our guys is, ‘Don’t worry about what the media’s saying about you.’ ”

The mystery may start with who is going to replace Brady Quinn, a four-year starter at quarterback, but it doesn’t end there.

Other big questions

The Irish must also replace their starting tailback and two starting receivers. They have a new defensive coordinator, Corwin Brown, and are switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 alignment.

Notre Dame is coming off a 10-3 year that ended with consecutive blowout losses to USC and Louisiana State.

The 2007 schedule starts out strong: home against Georgia Tech, at Penn State, at Michigan, home to Michigan State. The Irish also play both defensively formidable UCLA (Oct. 6) and USC (Oct. 20) again this year.

Some think eight wins would be a good year, but they don’t call it “rebuilding” here.

“May God strike me dead if I use that word,” Weis said. I’ll never use that word. ... You know, I have nine fifth-year seniors that came back for another year. Don’t you think I owe it to them to try and win this year?”