Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507821
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 23, 2023 5 FAN FORUM PLEASE MAINTAIN TRADITION IN CHANGING TIMES I have been a Notre Dame football fan all my life. Except for the pandemic year of 2020, Notre Dame has closed out its regular season with a game in Califor- nia. At Stanford in odd-numbered years (i.e., 2019, 2021, 2023) and at Southern Cal in even-numbered years (i.e., 2016, 2018, 2022). There was no game in Los Angeles in 2020 because of COVID-19. In 2024, Southern Cal will join the Big Ten, and Stanford will join the Atlan- tic Coast Conference. Even with those changes, I want to see Notre Dame con- tinue to close out its regular season with a game in California. I have always liked that. Also, I want to see Notre Dame con- tinue to play Navy each year. Things come in threes. Notre Dame's three main rivals have been: Southern Cal, Stanford and Navy. I would like to see Notre Dame con- tinue to play those three teams each year. Go Irish! Robert P. Sposato Jr. Norwalk, Conn. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters, Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 or e-mail to: sdowney@comanpub.com Graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman has been everything Notre Dame could have hoped for and more since transferring from Wake Forest. His hot start — 10 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while averaging 243.7 yards passing per game in the Irish's three wins to begin the season — had some fans comparing to Notre Dame's best quarterbacks from the past 35 years. Here is a part of the discussion that took place on our message board at BlueandGold.com: Irishchef3: If you had a choice, who are you picking as the starting QB for Notre Dame out of Jimmy Clausen, Sam Hartman, Brady Quinn or Rick Mirer? In my lifetime those are probably the best QBs start at ND. Tony Rice and Ian Book honorable mention. With how this current team is structured, I am going with Jimmy Clausen. But I would love to see Rick Mirer in today's offensive scheme. But by sea- son's end it might be Sam Hartman. daytrader70: Brady Quinn. Dude just made plays. Crash_Davis_8: I'm a huge Clausen guy. You put him in Lincoln Riley's offense with a really good OL, and he'd put up 450 yards per game and complete 75 percent of his passes. Not sure his lack of mobility translates to today's game, though. GoldenDinger1: Too early to ask that question. If Hartman continues this pace, and we win games, he'll be in the Heisman talk. SpaddyND: Hartman is on pace to throw 40 TDs with 0 INTS for 2,900 yards. He has only played a couple drives in the fourth quarter. What happened to @Java65? He probably hates that Hartman hasn't thrown an INT yet. Bostonirish: If they were running the option, Tony Rice, no doubt. The of- fense of today, Brady Quinn. NFL offense, Jimmy Clausen. NDIsHome: Rick Mirer. I love Brady Quinn, but I think Mirer was just a little bit better. Jimmy Clausen was a hell of a player, but not the same quality leader as Quinn and Mirer. Sam Hartman is supremely efficient, but we haven't seen him in a big-time game, under the lights, with the season on the line at Notre Dame. Mirer has a career full of those games. Deshone Kizer deserves some love for his 2015 performance. I really believe that 2016 was just a bad team that no QB could fix. Irishmark: I'd take either Brady Quinn or Sam Hartman. Clausen was prob- ably more talented but less mature and less team-oriented. Maloy49: Quinn. I don't think we have the WRs to take advantage of Clausen. Mirer could run the ball pretty decently, but I like Quinn's overall skill set better. Not near enough info on Hartman. McDevitt Domer: 1A. BQ, 1B. Hartman, 2. Mirer and 3. Clausen. irishflu: No love for Kevin McDougal or Powlus? Clausen may be the most accurate college quarterback I've ever seen and had sneaky arm strength. I'd probably go with him by a nose over Quinn with Mirer placing third. Hartman may ultimately be the one I'd pick, but as others have said, the sampling is too small. KevinPS: My answer would change with other offenses but, in this run- oriented offense, especially with the RPOs, it would be Rick Mirer and I don't have a close second. mh2365: Quinn and Clausen both would be stellar with our current roster. JohnnyDrama: Clausen was the best of the bunch — just had an awful OL. FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com Graduate student Sam Hartman's hot start has him being mentioned among Notre Dame's best quarterbacks from the past 35 years. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP