Clausen puts up huge numbers

Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen finished his season on a high note.

It couldn't have gotten much worse for Clausen than in the Fighting Irish's regular-season-ending loss to USC, when he went 11-for-22 for 41 yards with two interceptions, no touchdowns and a long pass completion of 11.

Yesterday, Clausen put up huge numbers, going 22-for-26 for 401 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. This time, his longest pass play was a 69-yard touchdown heave to Golden Tate.

“;I don't know what Jimmy ate,”; Tate said. “;He should have been 24-for-26 because we had two drops. He showed great leadership.”;

UH coach Greg McMackin said, “;Today, Jimmy Clausen was as accurate a passer as I've seen.”;

Clausen credited his line.

“;I got hit maybe one time,”; he said. “;We were clicking.”;

Weis calls plays from press box

Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, who is in agony awaiting two knee replacement surgeries, coached from the press box yesterday.

“;It's 10 times easier to call a game from up there than down on the field,”; he said. “;As far as seeing the field, it's not even close.”;

Weis said it was the first time he's coached a game from the booth since 2001, when he was the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator.

“;It was the game Drew Bledsoe was hurt and Tom Brady took over,”; Weis said. “;Tommy was an inexperienced quarterback then, and Bill (Belichick) and I thought we needed extra leadership on the field.”;

Weis coached from the field from that game through his final season with the Patriots, 2004, then moved on to be Notre Dame's head coach.

Warriors establish dubious record

While Notre Dame set a series of records in yesterday's win, the Fighting Irish were knocked out of the NCAA record book in one category.

Hawaii's pass protection issues continued into the final game of the season, as Notre Dame was credited with eight sacks for 55 yards in losses.

The Warriors ended the season giving up 59 sacks, breaking Notre Dame's NCAA-record of 58 set last year.

“;We had too many sacks,”; UH coach Greg McMackin said. “;We're going to examine that and we're going to get that corrected for next season.”;

Funaki: I'm open to position change

Hawaii quarterback Inoke Funaki, making his first appearance in three games, went 5-for-5 and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Mike Washington for the Warriors' final score of the season.

Whether he'll get to throw more passes for the Warriors remains to be seen. Funaki said “;nothing is set in stone,”; but he's open to moving to another position next season.

“;Whatever (the coaches) want to me to do,”; Funaki said. “;If they want me to fight it out (at quarterback) I'll do that. If they feel my athleticism can be utilized at another position, I'll do that. I'm open to suggestions come spring.

“;I was joking with the other quarterbacks that that was my last hurrah,”; Funaki said of the touchdown pass to Washington, his seventh TD pass of the season.

Attendance sets Hawaii Bowl mark

The Hawaii Bowl set records for both tickets issued and turnstile attendance yesterday, surpassing the marks set two years earlier for the matchup between Hawaii and Arizona State.

There were 45,718 tickets issued for yesterday's game. The turnstile count was 43,487.