A Tale of Two Freshmen Part II

Midterms are finally over, which means I can spend my day parked on the couch watching college basketball and great Saturday afternoon TV movies like Spaceballs. However, some of our loyal readers never take a break from reading up on Irish gridiron notes, so I thought now would be a good time to write part 2 of my Clausen / Quinn analysis.

In an effort to go beyond the numbers, I tried to uncover some of the intangible stats in each of their first 10 games, and Quinn ended up edging out Clausen 5 games to 4 based purely on their performance. Of course, football is a team sport, so a few other factors need to be considered before we can determine who had the 'better' freshman year. With that in mind, let's check out each QB's supporting cast:

Who Were They Throwing To?

2003: Brady worked with a set of WRs/TE his freshman year that went on to become arguably one of the best receiving corps in ND history. Rheman McKnight was ranked the 5th best WR by rivals, amassing over 2,000 receiving yards and over 20 touchdowns in his career. Although he was not used to his full potential in 2003, Jeff Samardzija would end up breaking most of the significant receiving records at Notre Dame. A hard nosed rivals 4-star receiver, Maurice Stovall, proved to be one of ND's greatest offensive threats (2,195 yards 18 TDs) over his college career, which ended when he was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2006 NFL draft. Rounding out the WRs was the senior leadership of Omar Jenkins, who contributed 36 receptions for over 300 yards. Don't forget the work of 4 star tight end Anthony Fasano, who notched over 1,000 career receiving yards before being drafted by the Cowboys in 2006.

2007: After a breakout '06 season, Carlson, a former 3 star recruit, was Clausen's most experienced target. Carlson, who was more of a receiving tight end than Fasano, went over 1,000 yards during his career and will likely be drafted this year. Rivals 64th best WR of the '05 class, David Grimes, provided the most experience at the receiver position, however, his experience was more related to his age than his playing time; Grime only had 2 receptions heading into the 2007 campaign. Most of the production came from sophomore Robby Parris (3* 64th WR) and freshman Duval Kamara (4* 6th WR). Flashes of help also came from freshman Golden Tate (4* 7th ATH) and sophomore George West (3* 53rd ATH), who are both (hopefully) still working to refine their receiving skills.

So... 2007 seemed to be handicapped at WR by experience. Its oldest wideout was a junior with no previous playing time, and two of the other young receivers were recruited as athletes instead of true wideouts. Both QB's had a talented NFL tight end to throw to, but Quinn also had future NFL players (Stovall, McKnight, Holiday, and Shark if he wanted to) playing at receiver. While it is unknown how many of the 2007 WRs will play at the next level, the talent that Quinn had to throw to is indisputable, which is why I'm giving this advantageto 2003.

How did the Big Uglies Do?

2003: Jeff Faine (who just signed a monster contract with the Bucs) and Brennan Curtain were drafted into the NFL, and this team was faced with the difficult task of replacing four starters on the offensive line; the lone returning starter was senior guard Sean Milligan. HOWEVER, ND was able to replace the graduated linemen with 1 SENIOR and 3 JUNIORS. What's even more impressive, the two-deep consisted of all juniors and sophomores. The veteran group of linemen was able to pave the way to an impressive ground game in '03, and Quinn was only sacked 13 times in 9 starts.

2007: ND only graduated 3 OLs in '06, although the losses of Ryan Harris (who introduced us all to Chipotle in MTV's True Life) and Bob Morton were particularly big. Pre season Remmington candidate John Sullivan was expected to anchor a young line with the help of returning contributors Sam Young and Mike Turkovich. However, the inexperience (possibly coupled with Weis' preference for light contact practices) ended up creating the offensive line that finished last in the NCAA in sacks allowed. In Clausen's first 7 starts, he went down 27 times.

So... No brainer here; most people look to the offensive line (and running game) as the biggest advantage Quinn had in his first year over Clausen. Edge: 2003.

Who Were They Handing Off To?

2003: In his fourth year at Notre Dame, Julius Jones went crazy for 1,200 yards and 10 TDs while splitting time at running back. His production earned him a 2nd round draft selection by the Cowboys. His partner in crime, Ryan Grant ripped off 500+ yds and 3 TDs in his junior season.

2007: This Notre Dame squad lost out on Darrius Walker's last year of eligibility and were instead forced to rely on a stable of less experienced running backs that each brought something different to the table. Sophomore James Aldridge had the most carries (121) despite being injured for some of the season. He was followed by the speedy Armando Allen (86 carries) who seemed not to adjust to the speed of the college game until later in the year. The true late bloomer was Robert Hughes, who recorded back to back 100+ yard games to close out the season. Seniors Travis Thomas and Junior Jabbie were also put in the mix for goal line and passing situations, respectively.

So... It's hard just to rationalize playing just one of the many RBs in 2007, but I think that ND might have been hurt by the inconsistency at the position this year. All three of our wins last season featured one distinct feature back behind Jimmy (Aldridge against UCLA and Hughes for the last two). In pass protection, the running back must work with the linemen to pick up blitzes, and its hard to get comfortable blocking with each other when the RB is always changing. Also, while Thomas brought leadership to the position, he was no Julius Jones. Willingham was able to hand the ball off to his workhorse when the going got tough, and either him or Grant was usually a sure bet in short yardage situations. If that wasn't enough, the 175 rush ypg earned by '03 dwarfs the 75 rush ypg of '07, giving 2003 an indisputable advantage.

Misc

It's also worth mentioning that the '03 defense was notably better, allowing 24 ppg compared to the 29 ppg the '07 squad let up. Quinn also didn't have the same pressure to get the ball in the endzone as Clausen; he could fall back on the reliable kicking of Nick Setta if a drive stalled within 45 yards. I'm not sure how much the kicking game has to do with quarterbacking, but it has to help a little bit.

That's it for this post - part 3 will give the final conclusion in a few days.