SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- True freshman Jimmy Clausen will start for Notre Dame against Penn State on Saturday.
"I think he gives us the best chance of winning," coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday.
Clausen was rated by many as the top high school recruit last year. Weis said Sunday that Clausen could not have started the opener because he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery to have a bone spur removed from his throwing elbow. Weis said Clausen wasn't fully healthy until last week.
"I think he's ready to run the offense. If I didn't think he was ready I wouldn't do this," Weis said. "I'm not going to play musical chairs with our quarterbacks."
Weis said Clausen was the top quarterback after spring practices, but was limited when practice began Aug. 6. He was recovering from the removal of a bone spur from his throwing elbow.
"I'm not going to play a quarterback who can't do everything, so I didn't," Weis said.
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Notre Dame's offensive plays will run through Jimmy Clausen, right, at least this weekend. The Irish play at No. 14 Penn State.
Notre Dame was held to 130 yards passing last week, ranking them 94th of 113 teams. Clausen played the final two series and was 4-of-6 passing for 34 yards and sacked once.
Saturday's 33-3 loss Saturday to Georgia Tech was the worst season-opening loss in Notre Dame history. It was the third straight game the Irish were soundly beaten, dating back to a 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl and a 44-24 loss to USC in the regular-season finale.
It's also the first time the Irish failed to score a touchdown in a season opener since a 20-12 loss at Michigan in 1985.
The three points are the fewest points scored by the Irish under third-year coach Weis. The previous low was in a 14-10 win in the season-opener against Georgia Tech last season.
But even more frustrating was that the Irish offense looked inept against the Yellow Jackets as Weis went through three quarterbacks trying to find a spark. Demetrius Jones tried to run the ball and Evan Sharpley and Clausen tried to pass, but none of them could find any room as the Georgia Tech defense repeatedly overpowered the Irish line.
The Irish quarterbacks were sacked nine times for a loss of 69 yards, including Sharpley being sacked seven times. Even subtracting the sack yardage from the rushing total, four Irish backs managed 44 yards rushing on 17 carries. Starting tailback Travis Thomas lost seven yards on seven carries and the Irish line was repeatedly stuffed on short-yardage situations.
