So Who Will Start For The Irish This Week?

While Touchdown Jesus and the collective Notre Dame nation still weep from the loss to Navy, the Irish are focusing on their next opponent. More specifically, who is going to start at quarterback against Air Force this Saturday?

It's not exactly a new question for the Irish, as Charlie Weis has been trying to figure it out since last spring. Demetrius Jones started the season at quarterback, before he was benched in favor of Jimmy Clausen, and transferred. Clausen took his turn getting beat up for a while before turning the ball over to Evan Sharpley, a move I called for, and was in support of.

Ever since Sharpley took over the job though, nothing's changed in South Bend. So now, after nine games, Charlie Weis finds himself in the same position he started the season. Trying to figure out who the best quarterback for this team is.

"I think the No. 1 thing is: Who's going to play the best for you down the stretch?" Weis said. "I don't think what you want to be doing here is each week say, 'well, who's going to play the best for us against Air Force? Who's going to play the best for us against Duke? Who's going to play the best for us against Stanford?'

"I'm at the point right now where I want to win this game and simultaneously I want to start building some upward momentum. They go together," he said. "So the decision isn't as simple as, over the last half dozen weeks who's done what better. It's who gives you the best chance to win this week and the next two weeks and moving forward?"

All good questions to ask yourself before making the decision, but there's another more poignant question that needs to be asked.

What the hell does it even matter who starts at quarterback? I think we're all pretty sure that no matter who the Irish play at quarterback, they're still going to suck. We've already seen it all season.

Which is why I think it's safe to say that Weis will name Jimmy Clausen the starter once again this week. When you think about it, he doesn't really have any other choice.

If he's going to turn the program back around, Clausen is the best choice. He's only a freshman, and since this season is obviously a lost cause, the Irish might as well use it as an opportunity for Clausen to get more acclimated to the college game.

I'm not that confident Clausen actually is the long term answer in South Bend, but at the moment, he's the only option Charlie has left.