Notre Dame Football: 15 best quarterbacks in Fighting Irish history
By John Buhler
Jimmy Clausen came from a strong football family. His two older brothers Casey and Rick Clausen quarterbacked in the SEC. Casey Clausen starred for Philip Fulmer with the Tennessee Volunteers. Rick Clausen initially played for Nick Saban with the LSU Tigers before transferring to Tennessee to play for Fulmer in Knoxville. But Jimmy Clausen, now he was the golden goose of the flock.
Clausen was the best quarterback recruit to come to South Bend since Ron Powlus. A very confident young player, Clausen would find early playing time as a true freshman in 2007. He completed 56.3 percent of his passes for 1,254 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Notre Dame went 3-9 under head coach Charlie Weis that season, but the Fighting Irish would be back in bowl games in Clausen’s final two years in South Bend.
Clausen completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 3,172 yards, 25 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Though wins weren’t bountiful, it looked as though Clausen was going to live up to his lofty hype as a star quarterback recruit coming out of Westlake Village, California. Clausen’s junior season of 2009 is a big reason for him cracking the top 10 on this all-time list.
He completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 3,722 yards, 28 touchdowns and four interceptions. His junior season totals and his overall body of work at Notre Dame certainly garnered him a lot of attention from NFL scouts come draft time. After Weis was fired after his junior season, Clausen decided to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the 2009 NFL Draft.
Clausen would be a second-round pick by the Carolina Panthers. Thrust into starting duty as a rookie for a terrible Carolina team, this led to the Panthers having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. They drafted Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton out of Auburn. Clausen would serve as Newton’s backup for three years in Charlotte before spending his last two NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. He was out of the league by 2015.
Overall, Clausen probably didn’t live up to the hype of being a star high school prospect while at Notre Dame. The Irish simply didn’t win enough. That being said, he did complete 62.6 percent of his passes for 8,148 yards, 60 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He ranks second all time in completions, completion percentage and yards in Notre Dame history, as well as third all time in touchdown passes and seventh in passer efficiency rating.