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Jared Clark: Could the Enigma Become the Star?
UHND.com - Travis Donnelly - Used courtesy of DomerDigest.com
1/5/2002
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Now that stability is back in South Bend, Notre Dame and
Ty Willingham can turn their attention to more important things than coaching rumors and
bad resumes - namely wining football games.
Ty Willingham brings many new things to the Fighting Irish football program. Probably the
most noticeable of which will be the long overdue arrival of a true and legitimate passing
offense. This begs the question - do we have a QB that can run it?
In August of 2000, three young and highly touted signal callers arrived in South Bend. A
mature pocket passer named Matt LoVecchio, the blue chip option QB Carlyle Holiday, and
equally talented but much less definable Jared Clark.
LoVecchio would be thrust into action as a true freshman after Arnaz Battle was lost for
the season. LoVecchio got the early nod primarily because of his poise and maturity.
LoVecchio was a nice QB who would not lose too many games for you. The problem was, as
every Notre Dame fan saw in the Fiesta Bowl, he couldn't really win many games for you
either. He doesn't appear to have the arm strength to efficiently run Wilsie's offense and
rumors have leaked out that he may be eyeing a transfer to Virginia Tech, where former
offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers is now the QB coach.
Holiday came in with big billing. Tagged as the second coming of Tony Rice, he watched and
learned when LoVecchio jumped to the forefront. But after that disastrous Fiesta
Bowl performance, coaches began watching Holiday much more closely and waiting for the
opportunity to switch the offense yet again and let the Carlyle show begin. Once Holiday
took over, he showed flashes of what a great option QB he could be.
The key term here is great OPTION quarterback. It remains to be seen if Holiday can
hone his passing skills to a point that will be adequate in Coach Willingham's offense.
Here's something to think about.
Last season Stanford's tandem of Randy Fasani and Chris Lewis threw for 2,981 yards, 26
TD's, and 12 interceptions. Matt LoVecchio and Carlyle Holiday threw for a combined 1,071
yards, 4 TD's, and 11 picks. Ouch.
That brings us full circle to Jared Clark. He has the best arm of the bunch. He chose
Notre Dame over Miami and Georgia and, to this point, has been the mystery man of the
group. He has the best size at 6'4" and 215 lbs. It has been said that he may be the
most complete QB of the bunch and can run and throw equally well.
After two seasons in two very different offenses, Jared Clark may be the man to shine
under Willingham. Willingham is known as a developer of QB's. Maybe he is the coach that
can take Clark from unknown to superstar. Come spring, we'll start getting some answers
about Jared Clark. It should be fun to watch.
This article used courtesy of DomerDigest.com. Click here for more of their articles.