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Irish start 0-4, Clausen fails to live up to hype
The luck of the Irish? Far from it.
For the first time in its school history, Notre Dame is 0-4 to start the season.
In his third season, Charlie Weis is taking the Fighting Irish through uncharted waters.
Unfortunately, the Dead Sea isn't what school officials had in mind after the premature decision to give Weis a 10-year contract following a 9-3 record during his first season.
Losses to Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State have the green and gold faithful up in arms.
The near future doesn't look any more promising as the Irish square off with Purdue, UCLA, Boston College and USC in their next four games, creating the possibility of an 0-8 start.
Brady Quinn's departure for the NFL left many realists seeing the writing on the wall, but nobody could envision the implosion of the Notre Dame offense.
Freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen came in with the pre-college hype of Lebron James, but his anemic performance leaves him destined to join brothers Casey and Rick in the quarterback hall of mediocrity.
Many questioned Jimmy Clausen's ability after he was out-performed by fellow senior Ryan Mallett in last year's U.S. Army high school All-Star Game. Mallett led Michigan to victory against Jimmy Clausen earlier this season.
Fans who expected to see the new Joe Montana are instead being treated to this decade's Ron Powlus.
If this situation is anything like that of Powlus, Notre Dame could hit the skids for quite a few seasons.
Powlus' new job as Notre Dame quarterback coach might be just the thing to hold Jimmy Clausen down for the rest of this season and beyond.
There's not a single bright spot on the Notre Dame team this season.
The offensive line is struggling to replace Ryan Harris. Jeff Samardzija's graduation left an enormous hole at wide receiver and Darius Walker's horrible decision to leave school early has left problems at running back.
Defense hasn't been a strong suit for Notre Dame in years and this season hasn't been any different.
Safety Tom Zbikowski is finally losing the recognition that he somehow gained during the success of Weis' first two seasons.
Zbikowski's careless play is oftentimes seen admirably for unexplainable reasons. Offenses are beginning to exploit the fact that being fast doesn't make you good in the secondary.
Jimmy Clausen is averaging less than five yards per attempt and has yet to record a touchdown.
So where does a school with such tradition go from here?
Weis is obviously going to get more of a chance than former coach Ty Willingham was given. The school's decision to jump the gun on a new Weis deal is saddled with an enormous buyout that leaves the school with no decision but to keep Weis as coach.
Recruiting is in shambles. Weis' men are underperforming. Strict enrollment policies make it hard for the Irish to recruit the same caliber athletes as rivals Michigan and USC.
Current generations of high school stars are too young to remember the glory days of Notre Dame football. Instead, they reflect on the Bob Davie years and see the Irish as no different than a middle-of-the-pack BCS conference team.
Weis and company have a long haul ahead - one that extends far beyond this season.
Recruiting is sure to take a hit thanks to the horrible start to the season and the motivation of the players seems to die more and more each week.
If there's a bright spot in all of this, it's that there's nothing left to lose.
And nothing's more dangerous than a team that has everything to gain.
See more at www.thelantern.com
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