Saturday’s game saw the freshman Jimmy Clausen starting his first game as the Notre Dame quarterback.  My expectations were a bit higher this week given Clausen’s performance in the final minutes of last week’s loss to Georgia Tech.  I watched my hope for the season dwindle even further as Penn State lit up Notre Dame 31 to 10.

Once again the Notre Dame offense struggled and was overwhelmed and confused by the Penn State defense.  Penalties and communication issues continue to plague them.  The Irish were also unable to score an offensive touchdown and relied on short yardage plays and swing passes to try and give Clausen some confidence and get other players involved.  Penn State quickly caught onto the scheme and shut Notre Dame down time and time again.  The offensive line was battered about the neck and face for the second straight week and the Irish quarterbacks will continue to suffer and generate zero offense until that problem is corrected.

I don’t know how the Irish are going to respond or what to expect next Saturday.  I do know that unless they decide to start taking a few risks, varying their offensive schemes, and being much more aggressive, it’s not going to make any difference.  Although Michigan has had an equally awful start to their season, Notre Dame is setting themselves up to have all that Big Blue frustration taken out on them next Saturday.

I can only hope that Charlie Weiss will decide to unleash the hounds and let things hang out a bit.  What do we have to lose?