PALO ALTO, Calif. – If Notre Dame chooses not to go to a bowl game with all the turmoil to finish this 6-6 regular season, Irish fans may have seen the last of junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen and junior wide receiver Golden Tate. But did they ever give a great sendoff if they don’t return.
Clausen recorded 340 passing yards and five touchdowns against Stanford to finish the regular season with 3,722 passing yards (second most in school history), 28 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. But he is also only 16-18 in his career as a starter.
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Tate finished with a game-high 201 yards and three touchdowns.
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“It’s frustrating,” Clausen said. “It seems like every time you lose a game, you’re losing by a touchdown or less. I’m a real competitive athlete and it’s just really tough.”
In every game, the records continued to fall for Tate. With his 10 catches, 201 yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinal, Tate became Notre Dame’s all-time career receiving leader with 2,707 yards, breaking Jeff Samardzija’s previous record of 2,593 yards. This was the eighth consecutive game Tate caught a touchdown pass in, which also broke the previous record of seven straight games set by Samardzija in 2005.
Tate’s 15 touchdown receptions tied the single-season record, and his 18 total touchdowns are second all time in a season to Jerome Bettis, who had 20 in 1991.
NFL Draft analyst Scott Wright said Tate, a Biletnikoff Award finalist, is a late second- or early third-round selection.
“He has done a lot to help his stock,” Wright said. “The (draft) combine will tell a lot about where he will go.”
Irish head coach Charlie Weis understands the ins and outs of the NFL Draft and he believes Tate’s body of work this season and for his career will help prospective teams overlook his receiver’s 5-foot-11 stature.
As for Clausen’s draft standing, Wright rates Clausen as a top-15 overall pick and the No. 2 quarterback behind Washington’s Jake Locker, which should bring Clausen about $20 million in guaranteed cash if he goes pro.
Both Tate and Clausen said they planned to sit down with their families in the coming weeks, make a decision and announce their plans.
“The both of them are awesome,” Weis said. “They put in phenomenal performances.”
Jan. 15 is the deadline for underclassmen to make themselves available for the draft.
“I’m not sure,” Tate said. “Coach (Weis) and I will talk pretty soon. My family will talk. I’ll talk to different people to see what is the best thing for me to do. I’m hoping this isn’t the last time I’m in a Notre Dame uniform.”
To Bowl. Or …
My how quickly things can change. About one month ago, “Notre Dame” was being used in the same sentence as “BCS” in terms of its bowl projections. Of course, the November freefall has taken care of those aspirations, and now at 6-6, the Irish find themselves an at-large bowl team for the second straight season, but the players still seemed united in their desire to play in a bowl.
“Whatever gets me another chance to get out on the field with these seniors and the last time to step on the field with them, I would love to,” said sophomore receiver Michael Floyd.
Notre Dame will need to fill a spot in a bowl game left void by another conference, if the university brass even chooses to send the Irish to a bowl game.
Four bowl options appear most likely for Notre Dame:
The Eagle Bank Bowl (Dec. 29, Washington, D.C.)
The Humanitarian Bowl (Dec. 30, Boise, Idaho)
The Little Caesars Bowl (Dec. 26, Detroit, formerly the Motor City Bowl)
The GMAC Bowl (Jan. 6, 2010, Mobile Ala.)
“Obviously I want to go to a bowl game,” said junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen. “It’s like a vacation but we got to talk it over with the captains and the rest of the team and take it from there.”
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick refused to comment after the game about any potential bowl plans or a timetable about announcing the coaching situation. Irish head coach Charlie Weis did not meet with the media after the Stanford game, offering a quote sheet instead with six game-specific topics.
Pleasant Surroundings
There must be something about Stanford Stadium that brings out the best in junior tailback Robert Hughes. In his second trip to Palo Alto in his career, Hughes hit Stanford for 74 yards on 13 carries Saturday – a 5.7-yard average and his second best rushing game of the season behind the 131 yards against Washington State.
“Just an opportunity and a chance for me,” Hughes said. “Whenever I get the chance, I try to make the best of it. It’s all about wanting it.”
The other appearance at Stanford for Hughes came in 2007 when he recorded a career-high 136 rushing yards in the season finale.
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Hughes averaged 5.7 yards on 13 carries against the Cardinal.
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Hughes got his chance Saturday when junior Armando Allen sat out the game with a hand injury and freshman tailback Theo Riddick fumbled on the first play from scrimmage for Notre Dame and was relegated to backup duty behind Hughes.
“Of course things aren’t going the way they should or I feel they should but you can’t control those things,” Hughes said. “What you can control is when you presented with opportunities to play and play well.”
That’s A Shiner
Irish junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen fielded questions after the game and the inevitable one came up about his nasty black eye. Clausen was involved in a skirmish at a South Bend bar early Sunday morning after the Connecticut game and was punched. As expected, Clausen didn’t elaborate much on the incident that drew national headlines.
“You guys have talked about it for a week or so,” Clausen said. “You see my eye right now. To be honest, I’m just disappointed, and sorry for all the seniors, the last game of their careers and we couldn’t finish it off.”
Clausen said the eye injury didn’t have any negative impact on his game performance or preparations.
Digging Deep
Irish head coach Charlie Weis wasn’t going to go down without a fight or a little trickery in his offensive play calling Saturday. In a play Weis had to be sitting on most of the season, he called a flea-flicker pass off a fake reverse out of the Wildcat formation that went for a 46-yard touchdown.
The snap went directly to junior tailback Robert Hughes. He handed off to junior receiver Golden Tate, who looked ready to go around end on a reverse. Instead, Tate flipped a lateral back to junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen who hit sophomore receiver Michael Floyd with a perfect strike. No Stanford defender was within 20 yards of Floyd.
“(Clausen) hit me in stride, it was a great play,” Floyd said.
Miscellaneous Notes
• Freshman placekicker Nick Tausch missed his third straight game Saturday when he didn’t make the trip to Stanford. Walk-on kicker David Ruffer filled in admirably again, making his one field goal attempt and his five extra point tries.
• With his 10 tackles against Stanford, freshman linebacker Manti Teo’ joined former Irish players Bob Golic, Ross Browner and Mike Kovaleski as the only freshman in program history to record at least 60 tackles.
• After missing the Pittsburgh and Connecticut games with a shoulder injury, Irish sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph didn’t start but he made a brief appearance in the second half.
• Stanford featured two players that transferred from Notre Dame in senior placekicker Nate Whitaker and senior tight end Konrad Reuland. Whitaker made three field goals. Reuland played only sparingly.
• Irish sophomore offensive guard Braxton Cave put his name on the stat sheet for the first time in his career when he recorded a first-quarter fumble on a Stanford punt return.
• With his three touchdown runs against Notre Dame Stanford standout tailback, Toby Gerhart, set a Pac 10 single-season with 26 rushing touchdowns and a Stanford career record with 42 total touchdowns.
