Clausen leaves home with a victory

Jimmy Clausen took a knee and walked off the field nodding his head ever so slightly.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, Notre Dame’s freshman quarterback briefly wandered around exchanging pleasantries with UCLA players before sprinting to the far end zone, where his teammates had already embarked on a frothy celebration of their 20-6 victory over the Bruins.

The Fighting Irish players flung game-worn wristbands and gloves to an adoring throng of fans before racing back across the field toward their locker room. As he passed underneath a mob of supporters perched above the tunnel leading underneath the stadium, Clausen held his helmet aloft and proudly pointed to it.

Finally, six games into his Notre Dame career, the freshman savior had a moment to savor. After starting his career uh-oh-and-five, Clausen tasted victory and wanted more.

“He was pretty fired up,” Irish Coach Charlie Weis said. “This was his home turf, and any time you come home and beat a quality team such as UCLA. . . he’s as happy as anybody in there.”

Clausen didn’t engineer the upset so much as protect it. The defense did most of the heavy lifting by forcing seven turnovers. But Clausen played a role as well, scoring the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter on a one-yard sneak.

His passing numbers? Vanilla-bland would be putting it mildly. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 84 yards without a touchdown or an interception.

But the interception-free performance thrilled Weis, whose team had committed 20 turnovers en route to its 0-5 start.

“He managed the team, and that’s what we wanted him to do,” Weis said. “We knew we were going to play a conservative game on offense. Every week we had been turning the ball over on our end of the field, and we weren’t going to turn the ball over.”

Clausen couldn’t share his emotions publicly afterward because, like other Irish freshmen, he was not made available to speak with the media because of a school policy.

But consider his teammates impressed.

“He’s a mature quarterback,” said John Carlson, Notre Dame’s senior tight end. “He’s only a freshman, but he’s seasoned. It’s obvious he’s been in pressure situations before. He provided us with a lot of emotion and energy but still did his job, and it’s a testament to him.”

Westlake Village Oaks Christian High Coach Bill Redell, who helped Clausen become the nation’s top-rated quarterback recruit, said his former standout turned in exactly the kind of performance the Irish needed.

“I thought he played outstanding. He didn’t make mistakes and was very composed,” said Redell, who attended the game and watched with a group of Clausen’s friends and family. “I think this is going to change the momentum of their season.”

The Notre Dame defense provided Clausen with two first-and-goal opportunities following a fumble recovery and an interception. On the first sequence, late in the first quarter, Clausen responded by getting sacked and throwing a pair of incomplete passes before the Irish kicked the tying field goal.

The next time was a different story.

Facing a third-and-goal from the UCLA one-yard line late in the third quarter, Clausen bulled ahead for the score that put Notre Dame ahead, 13-6.

“I was a little bit nervous on the sideline because it had been so long since we had been up in the second half,” Weis said.

The lead held, and soon Clausen and his coach were all smiles.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com