Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame at Ohio State is 28 days away
To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.
This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football.
The Irish and Buckeyes kick off in 28 days. One of the most decorated quarterbacks in program history, Jimmy Clausen, threw 28 touchdown passes as a junior in 2009.
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The 2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish weren’t good. They finished the season on a four-game losing streak and ended the year with a 6-6 record. Head coach Charlie Weis lost his job.
But if anything positive came out of that season, it was the full display of just how good Clausen could be as a signal caller for the blue and gold. In his true junior season, Clausen completed 289-of-425 pass attempts (68.0%) for 3,722 yards with 28 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Many of those figures are toward the top of all-time single-season program records charts.
The completion percentage ranks second all-time behind Ian Book‘s 68.2% in 2018. The yardage ranks second behind Brady Quinn‘s 3,919 in 2005. The 28 touchdowns rank fifth. Quinn holds the record with 37 in 2006. Clausen completed 37 passes against Navy in 2009, which was a record that stood until Jack Coan completed 38 in the Fiesta Bowl this year.
All told, Clausen could put up numbers with some of the best quarterbacks in Notre Dame history.
Notre Dame fall camp practice No. 1 observations
• Offense
• Defense
The writing was on the wall for a special season when Clausen threw four touchdown passes with no interceptions on just 18 pass attempts in a season-opening 35-0 victory over Nevada. Clausen did all he could in throwing for 336 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a narrow 38-34 loss to Michigan in week two as well.
Clausen threw at least two touchdown passes in 10 of 12 games and capped the season with a career-high tying five touchdown passes against Stanford. It helped to have Golden Tate as a junior and Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph as targets to throw to, but Clausen still had to accurately get them the ball. He did as well in that department as anyone could have. Tate finished with 15 touchdown receptions, which is tied for an all-time Notre Dame single-season record.
Notre Dame went 16-21 in the three seasons Clausen was enrolled. The high school prodigy who compiled a 42-0 record as a starter at the preps level went to the NFL as soon as he could after falling on hard times team-wise at Notre Dame. He was selected by the Chicago Bears with the No. 48 overall pick in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Clausen appeared in 21 games with 14 starts for the Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers. He threw seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions. To most Notre Dame fans, though, he’ll forever be remembered as the guy who made the 2009 season at least somewhat watchable by throwing 28 touchdown passes.
