CLAUSEN FINDS SOUTHERN COMFORT FORMER ALEMANY QUARTERBACK TAKES TENNESSEE BY STORM.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

He's no longer little Alemany High's Casey Clausen, and he doesn't belong to the San Fernando Valley anymore. Not entirely, anyway.

Clausen used to be the Valley's guy, a tall, blond-haired California-cool gunslinger practically born and bred to play quarterback.

But lo and behold, Clausen has taken charge during his freshman season in Knoxville, Tenn., leading the Volunteers to six consecutive wins and a berth in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day.

Along the way, Clausen has thrown for a Tennessee freshman-record 1,473 yards and 15 touchdowns, earned third-team Freshman All-America honors and second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors from the Sporting News. He's also solidified the quarterback position at Tennessee for the next three years.

Thanks to Clausen, Vols coach Phillip Fulmer can't even offer a scholarship to a high school quarterback without the kid saying: ``It's not that I don't want to play for you coach, but why would I want to sit behind Clausen until 2003?''

Not that Fulmer minds. In fact, the old coach has taken a liking to the kid from California, inviting him over to his big house on the lake for some home-cooked meals to talk about life and the art of quarterbacking.

Of course, it helps that Clausen hasn't lost a game since he took over the starting duties at midseason.

``If we can protect him better, he'll get a chance to be really, really special,'' Fulmer said.

In other words, the former Valley guy is now the man at Tennessee.

``It's pretty cool,'' Clausen said Saturday in Woodland Hills. He was enjoying a slice of pizza while taking a break from some Christmas shopping during a stopover at home on his way to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl.

Pretty cool? This is a guy who's living out the same dream that dances inside the heads of every red-blooded kid who ever picked up a football in Volunteers territory.

Clausen can't go to the gas station without some fans sliding up next to him to talk about the win against the Gamecocks, or that touchdown pass against Alabama. He can no longer maintain his privacy at the mall, where he often is encountered by a group of starry-eyed kids asking for his autograph.

Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, now an NFL star with the Indianapolis Colts, calls Clausen every week - just to shoot the breeze about the latest game.

It's funny when you think about it, but this is just how Clausen suspected it would be when he'd plop down in his sofa on Saturday nights in the fall, turn on ESPN and watch football games from SEC outposts like Knoxville, or Gainesville, Fla., or Baton Rouge, La., and fantasize about being the quarterback and playing in front of 90,000 charged up, football- lovin' fans.

Clausen wanted to play where football wasn't just the thing, it's the only thing.

Now here he is.

``It's been a fun experience, just playing football down South and in the SEC,'' Clausen said. ``Everything's so different down there compared to California in terms of the atmosphere and the passion people have. In California there's so much to do. But in the South, football is like a religion, and that's the type of situation I wanted to be in.''

Clausen's best friend, former Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks defensive end Travis Johnson, nods in agreement. Johnson, a freshman at Florida State, plays in equally passionate Florida, so he knows exactly what Clausen is dealing with.

Because of injuries, Johnson didn't get to play as much as his friend did this year, but he kept up with him on the phone and by watching Tennessee games on TV.

``I'm not surprised at all by what Casey's done and I'll tell you why,'' Johnson said. ``That's the only quarterback I played against in high school that I didn't sack.''

Clausen was prepared to make his mark as a freshman. He graduated from Alemany at midsemester last year, then enrolled at Tennessee in January, a decision he considers critical to putting himself in the running for the starting job.

The extra time gave Clausen a chance to acclimate himself to college life, go through spring football workouts and get over the normal homesickness every freshman experiences.

By the time summer practice arrived, Clausen wasn't a blurry-eyed freshman anymore. He was in the running for the starting job.

``I felt that, being a quarterback, in order to compete for the job I had to go there in January,'' Clausen said. ``There's no way that I could have gone in as a normal freshman and competed. There's just so much to learn that it would have been impossible.''

Unfortunately, Clausen was sidelined the first two weeks of practice with tendinitis in his throwing arm, a setback that eliminated him from consideration for the starting job in the regular-season opener. Until the injury, Clausen was playing even with fellow quarterbacks A.J. Suggs and Joey Matthews.

``The job was pretty much laying out there so it was frustrating not to be able to compete for it,'' Clausen said. ``But things happen for a reason, and I just had to work on other parts of my game besides just throwing the ball.''

Suggs and Matthews left the door open for Clausen with their undistinguished play while Clausen was out.

A week after Clausen returned, he came off the bench to throw for 133 yards on 12-of-15 passing against Louisiana-Monroe. After playing briefly the next two weeks against Louisiana State and Georgia, Clausen was given the starting job against Alabama.

He responded by throwing for 213 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-10 victory over the Crimson Tide. Clausen hasn't left the lineup since, showing the same poise and accuracy he displayed at Alemany, where he started under Jim Bonds for three years and threw for 7,871 yards and 71 touchdowns.

The highlight for Clausen was the 191 yards and five touchdowns he threw against Arkansas. The five touchdowns tied a school-record shared by Manning, Heath Shuler and Andy Kelly.

``I think Casey has surprised everybody,'' Fulmer said. ``You don't expect a freshman to show the poise he's displayed, nor the results or the type of numbers he's posted.''

Tennessee wide receiver Cedrick Wilson agrees. Like most of Clausen's teammates, Wilson wondered who the new kid from California was. Now he's a believer.

``I don't think anything can shake the guy,'' Wilson said. ``He's a very emotional guy, a guy that wants to be in there to make the plays.''

Clausen is surprised but not shocked with how well he's done. After making the initial adjustment to the speed and talent level in college, he's simply settled into the same comfort zone he's always had.

``The thing you learn is, football is football,'' Clausen said. ``And I think it helped that I played in high school against great players like Travis (Johnson) and in the league we played in, which was Division-I and had a high caliber of talent. You're always going to make adjustments, but it's still the same game you've always played.''

It's just that in some places, football is taken a little more seriously than others.

``Nothing against the schools in California,'' Clausen said. ``But it's just a totally different thing down South. I love California, but I wish every kid could go see what it's like somewhere else. There's such a big difference.''

COTTON BOWL

Kansas State vs. Tennessee

Jan. 1, 2001

--TV: Ch. 11, 9 a.m.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) ``Everything's so different down there compared to California in terms of the atmosphere and the passion people have. In California there's so much to do. But in the South, football is like a religion.''

--Casey Clausen, Tennessee QB, on playing in the South

(2) Former Alemany quarterback Casey Clausen, left, has had great success as Tennessee's freshman quarterback. Also, Notre Dame High's Travis Johnson had an encouraging year at Florida State.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News