I've made it clear before I don't ever like an open QB competition in Fall Practice.

I'm a believer that if you have two or three guys taking equal reps you actually have no one guy to gameplan around, wasted time in the summer, potential for a divided team.. etc.

 

All QB competitions should end in Spring Ball. Last year though it was not announced I believe the competition truly ended in spring ball. Rees summer arrest in 2012 contributed, but I believe Golson would have started regardless.

 

In 2013, Picking Rees before Fall Camp lets Chuck Martin spend most of his summer thinking about how to score points with Rees. Remember Rees has NEVER entered fall camp as the guy before. Chuck Martin wasn't the OC when Rees got most his starts. that was Molnar.

 

I wish Golson had not made a big mistake, but I'm excited because Kelly's early decision gives Rees the best opportunity he has had to date to be successful BY FAR

Edited July 5, 201312 yr by FaithInIrishForever

I don`t think it takes all summer for a HC and OC that has won NCs to figure out how to score points with a specific QB.

Also, with hard work over the Summer, a QB might improve enough to be the starter if given a chance in the Fall.

So, you are saying that Rees will start against Temple?

Barring injury I think Rees will start 13 games. Of course they're might be a competition for a guy to run the read option. If Kelly follows his pattern he will try his best to Goldshirt Ziare. This is hard because with any injury all 3 will be used.

 

Don't worry Oklahoma, I know its not likely Ziare redshirts, I'm just saying thats how Kelly would have preferred it based on past seasons

 

I think its such a benefit to Rees knowing hes the starter. Yes AlabamaDuck, with Skill players that Rees has not necessarily thrown with all that much, i.e. Bryant, Carlisle, Niklas, even Daniels( DaVaris was on the scout team with Golson a whole year) Rees needs that time in the summer to throw with them during Captains practices.

 

I prefer when the coach is decisive and names his QB early. I think Indecisiveness caused the 8-5 in 2011 much as anything else. Slow decisions cause turnovers. Getting plays in late doesn't help.

 

I think as Kelly gets further into this job he is refining the process to get rid of as much indecisiveness as he can because it causes losing.

 

I know we are not thrilled with the options we have because we want Golson but I commend Kelly for making a decision. I would have been thrilled if he chose Malik but if you wait until 2 weeks into fall camp I believe it really might have been another 8-5. But giving Rees time to prepare and plays he can execute I'm still seeing 10 wins or more.

It is a fine thing that we will have the fall to try and put some punch into the offense Faith.

 

But I think its worth realizing that this switch to Tommy IS NOT a simple matter of getting him more familiar with the new personel.---The ENTIRE offensive scheme that Martin & Kelly have been working on since spring 2012 is now going to be thrown out. This change means BUNCHES of QB plays & options have to be shelved---the tempo that we worked all spring to increase has to be slowed back down---the offensive philosophy the staff envisioned with Golson has to be radically altered as the play book shrinks.

 

Bottom line---a wide open attack featuring the QB running, rolling, changing the launchpoints , and using various option elements all with an upbeat tempo----has to be altered to a , quick throw, pocket passing, heavy running, conservative attack using a slow deliberate tempo against a consistent 8 in the box.

 

The problem with tommy in my view is only partially his skill set---its more the impact that will have on the entire offensive scheme. Often when one QB goes down its just a matter of EXECUTION by the replacement QB----but in this case we were aggressively developing one offensive philosophy and now we have A FALL PRACTICE to shrink it into something much smaller.

 

The new offense WILL NOT be built on REES as the playmaker but as Tommy as the MANAGER----That means TOMMY HAS TO DO MORE then be generally efficient----in the REES offense, generally efficient play often will produce sketchy results, TOMMY HAS TO PLAY VERY WELL__HE HAS TO PUT UP THE BEST NUMBERS OF HIS CAREER__HE HAS TO LIMIT HIS TURNOVERS TO A 1-3 RATIO---24 Tds--8 picks---

 

With a Golson , a drive can look a little sloppy , but a 3rd and 6 can see him running around behind the line of scrimmage for longer then anyone should and then hit a 45 yard pass---that type of QB can make up for inconsistency with the BIG PLAY----

 

With Tommy, drives have to be near perfect---3rd down conversions need to be sky high---and turnovers MUST be minimized in order to turn possessions into points.

 

 

Tommy's pluses----HE THROWS TDs AS WELL AS PICKS

---------------------HE READS DEFENSES WELL

---------------------WHEN HE PLAYS WITH CONFIDENCE HE CAN GET RID OF THE BALL QUICKLY AND MOVE THE CHAINS

----------------------HE DOESN"T GET RATTLED EASILY EVEN AFTER A MISTAKE-----------

----------------------HE IS VERY EXPERIENCED IN THE OFFENSE MARTIN & KELLY WILL GIVE HIM

 

 

If Tommy can hit 66%---can cut his TD to INT ratio to 3-1---can be the most effective on THIRD down---can find a go to receiver that works----can loosen up defenses enough to let the running game thrive---

 

 

Then we can still win a lot of games!

 

aloha's

Edited July 5, 201312 yr by hawaiiirish

Barring injury I think Rees will start 13 games. Of course they're might be a competition for a guy to run the read option. If Kelly follows his pattern he will try his best to Goldshirt Ziare. This is hard because with any injury all 3 will be used.

 

Don't worry Oklahoma, I know its not likely Ziare redshirts, I'm just saying thats how Kelly would have preferred it based on past seasons

 

I think its such a benefit to Rees knowing hes the starter. Yes AlabamaDuck, with Skill players that Rees has not necessarily thrown with all that much, i.e. Bryant, Carlisle, Niklas, even Daniels( DaVaris was on the scout team with Golson a whole year) Rees needs that time in the summer to throw with them during Captains practices.

 

I prefer when the coach is decisive and names his QB early. I think Indecisiveness caused the 8-5 in 2011 much as anything else. Slow decisions cause turnovers. Getting plays in late doesn't help.

 

I think as Kelly gets further into this job he is refining the process to get rid of as much indecisiveness as he can because it causes losing.

 

I know we are not thrilled with the options we have because we want Golson but I commend Kelly for making a decision. I would have been thrilled if he chose Malik but if you wait until 2 weeks into fall camp I believe it really might have been another 8-5. But giving Rees time to prepare and plays he can execute I'm still seeing 10 wins or more.

 

There are a lot of fans that feel the same as you. We will have to wait till September to see who is correct.

The 8-5 was poor choices and turn overs in the red zone by Rees. I will be very surprised and happy if we can win 10 games with Rees as QB.

There is no reason to red shirt Zaire and bring him into next season with zero experience. And with Zaire, we can play the whole playbook and keep the defenses honest. Just my opinion like you have yours, I think Zaire will replace Rees as the starter sometime in the season.

Last year we were picking between Golson and Rees and we still have the same argument this year and next year it will be between Golson and Zaire..

It is a fine thing that we will have the fall to try and put some punch into the offense Faith.

 

But I think its worth realizing that this switch to Tommy IS NOT a simple matter of getting him more familiar with the new personel.---The ENTIRE offensive scheme that Martin & Kelly have been working on since spring 2012 is now going to be thrown out. This change means BUNCHES of QB plays & options have to be shelved---the tempo that we worked all spring to increase has to be slowed back down---the offensive philosophy the staff envisioned with Golson has to be radically altered as the play book shrinks.

 

Bottom line---a wide open attack featuring the QB running, rolling, changing the launchpoints , and using various option elements all with an upbeat tempo----has to be altered to a , quick throw, pocket passing, heavy running, conservative attack using a slow deliberate tempo against a consistent 8 in the box.

 

The problem with tommy in my view is only partially his skill set---its more the impact that will have on the entire offensive scheme. Often when one QB goes down its just a matter of EXECUTION by the replacement QB----but in this case we were aggressively developing one offensive philosophy and now we have A FALL PRACTICE to shrink it into something much smaller.

 

The new offense WILL NOT be built on REES as the playmaker but as Tommy as the MANAGER----That means TOMMY HAS TO DO MORE then be generally efficient----in the REES offense, generally efficient play often will produce sketchy results, TOMMY HAS TO PLAY VERY WELL__HE HAS TO PUT UP THE BEST NUMBERS OF HIS CAREER__HE HAS TO LIMIT HIS TURNOVERS TO A 1-3 RATIO---24 Tds--8 picks---

 

With a Golson , a drive can look a little sloppy , but a 3rd and 6 can see him running around behind the line of scrimmage for longer then anyone should and then hit a 45 yard pass---that type of QB can make up for inconsistency with the BIG PLAY----

 

With Tommy, drives have to be near perfect---3rd down conversions need to be sky high---and turnovers MUST be minimized in order to turn possessions into points.

 

 

Tommy's pluses----HE THROWS TDs AS WELL AS PICKS

---------------------HE READS DEFENSES WELL

---------------------WHEN HE PLAYS WITH CONFIDENCE HE CAN GET RID OF THE BALL QUICKLY AND MOVE THE CHAINS

----------------------HE DOESN"T GET RATTLED EASILY EVEN AFTER A MISTAKE-----------

----------------------HE IS VERY EXPERIENCED IN THE OFFENSE MARTIN & KELLY WILL GIVE HIM

 

 

If Tommy can hit 66%---can cut his TD to INT ratio to 3-1---can be the most effective on THIRD down---can find a go to receiver that works----can loosen up defenses enough to let the running game thrive---

 

Then we can still win a lot of games!

 

aloha's

 

Lot of if's so he needs as much time as possible to work on those. Your right those have to be Tommy's goals

 

Alot of ifs if we had started Zaire

 

Could he pick up in one spring what it took Golson a redshirt year and a spring?

 

hes a lefty so can Lombard block his blindside?

Does he have chemistry with any of the receivers?

No game experience.. it just goes on and on..

 

I love his mobility and as i said even though kelly prefers it Malik won't redshirt

 

Now if Tommy gets to 2-3 losses then ND has nothing to lose but they owe it to Louis Nix, Zach Martin etc to try to get to the BCS again.

Edited July 5, 201312 yr by FaithInIrishForever

yep --a completely different set of problems trying to push Zaire to play as a true frosh---Tommy is CLEARLY the obvious choice---I am not sold he will make it 13 games but we don't want to throw away zaire's redshirt for nothing and Hendrix is the only other option--so if he makes it trhough the first seven he likely makes it through 13---

 

none of this is tommy's fault of course--we are lucky to have an experienced QB like him given the situation---

 

but as Alabama Duck points out---the most annoying thing about this is the loss of certainty at QB for the fourth year---its been since jimmy's last season that we seemed SET at QB---We had a great thing going with Golson/Zaire and Tommy in relief---now its all up in the air again for a couple of seasons------Everett was so reckless, so irresponsible, so immature, I certainly forgive his youthful mistake, that he is paying for, but I am not happy that I have to pay for his IDIOTIC move as well-------

 

I will though KEEP THE "FAITH"!!__

 

aloha's go irish!

Agreed on being disappointed in Golson.

 

My premise is that Luck favors the prepared

 

There will be noone more prepared on the ND roster than Tommy Rees when Auguist 31st comes around to play QB for ND..

Sorry guys but 10 wins is not gonna happen.

10 wins was a ? with Golson....

 

I would love for someone to explain to me how this team is going to win 10 games with Rees running the show and new RB's and a TE that we know nothing about....

Sorry guys but 10 wins is not gonna happen.

10 wins was a ? with Golson....

 

I would love for someone to explain to me how this team is going to win 10 games with Rees running the show and new RB's and a TE that we know nothing about....

 

A nasty defense and a great coaching staff?

Agreed on being disappointed in Golson.

 

My premise is that Luck favors the prepared

 

There will be no one more prepared on the ND roster than Tommy Rees when Auguist 31st comes around to play QB for ND..

 

Agree on all points.

 

Prime example inclusive of these is the pass against Stanford to Theo.

- Tommy knew exactly where he was going before the snap.

- Nick Martin totally blew his blocking assignment, leaving the RDE unabated access to our QB.

- Tommy threw it where he knew he was going all along.

- Theo made a great catch for a first down.

 

This was last year as a junior.

 

He will be even better this year as a senior.

I don't know if Kelly's "decisiveness" is going to win them any games, but a top 10 defense and a bunch of playmakers on offense, although inexpiereneced might be able to.

Sorry guys but 10 wins is not gonna happen.

10 wins was a ? with Golson....

 

I would love for someone to explain to me how this team is going to win 10 games with Rees running the show and new RB's and a TE that we know nothing about....

 

Wow, you sound like the naysayers of last year that predicted 7 wins and at most 8 wins. Seriously, our defense will be better this year and our Oline will be better and our WR corps will be more experienced. I am sorry, but most teams would kill to have that many positives going into a season, you are only looking at it from a ND standpoint and wanting to have the perfect team from top to bottom (which no team ever has entering a season).

 

Looking at the schedule the only team that ND is NOT the favorite to win is Stanford. Our running game last year was only good against mediocre teams, so honestly, as much as I love Riddick and Wood, its not like we lost star players. The best thing the RB position did all year was Riddick during U$C. Racking up yards against Navy doesnt make them stars or players that will be sorely missed on the football field. I dont see the RB position improving or degrading much at all this year, if anything, it might be better behind a more experienced and improved Oline.

 

While I enjoyed Golson and loved his potential as a 4 year starter, lets not pretend that he was the star of the show. Rees helped win games last year as well and honestly, the only reason Rees won only 8 games the year before was because he and the team had 10 turnovers in 2 games. Do you realize how rare that is? Rees is not an AA QB, but 10 turnovers in 2 games is about 60% bad luck. I will easily bet you $100 that it doesnt happen again. If you take out 2 turnovers, so 8 turnovers in 2 games (which is still very rare), we win 10 games in 2011 regular season.

 

I am sorry, but looking at our schedule and what our opponents return compared to what we return, only a true pessimist would predict less than 10 wins. We are the FAVORITE going into 11 games this year. People who predict the mediocre season last season and this season are basing it off the ideal roster they would like to have instead of basing it off the roster compared to other team's roster, which is what the game is about.

Wow, you sound like the naysayers of last year that predicted 7 wins and at most 8 wins. Seriously, our defense will be better this year and our Oline will be better and our WR corps will be more experienced. I am sorry, but most teams would kill to have that many positives going into a season, you are only looking at it from a ND standpoint and wanting to have the perfect team from top to bottom (which no team ever has entering a season).

 

Looking at the schedule the only team that ND is NOT the favorite to win is Stanford. Our running game last year was only good against mediocre teams, so honestly, as much as I love Riddick and Wood, its not like we lost star players. The best thing the RB position did all year was Riddick during U$C. Racking up yards against Navy doesnt make them stars or players that will be sorely missed on the football field. I dont see the RB position improving or degrading much at all this year, if anything, it might be better behind a more experienced and improved Oline.

 

While I enjoyed Golson and loved his potential as a 4 year starter, lets not pretend that he was the star of the show. Rees helped win games last year as well and honestly, the only reason Rees won only 8 games the year before was because he and the team had 10 turnovers in 2 games. Do you realize how rare that is? Rees is not an AA QB, but 10 turnovers in 2 games is about 60% bad luck. I will easily bet you $100 that it doesnt happen again. If you take out 2 turnovers, so 8 turnovers in 2 games (which is still very rare), we win 10 games in 2011 regular season.

 

I am sorry, but looking at our schedule and what our opponents return compared to what we return, only a true pessimist would predict less than 10 wins. We are the FAVORITE going into 11 games this year. People who predict the mediocre season last season and this season are basing it off the ideal roster they would like to have instead of basing it off the roster compared to other team's roster, which is what the game is about.

 

 

How about a friendly bet... $20 bucks good

 

Of course Golson wasn't the reason we won all those games last season and he did need bailing out a couple of times but we also don't win all those games w/o him.

He extends plays and Rees doesn't. Golson can throw them down field and rees can't.

What is going to be so different than before with Rees and inexpierenced RB's.

Since Kelly has never named a starter before fall camp at ND, what evidence is there to support the conclusion that doing so will be beneficiàl?

How about a friendly bet... $20 bucks good

 

Of course Golson wasn't the reason we won all those games last season and he did need bailing out a couple of times but we also don't win all those games w/o him.

He extends plays and Rees doesn't. Golson can throw them down field and rees can't.

What is going to be so different than before with Rees and inexpierenced RB's.

 

I'm with you. ND didn't win more than 8 games either year with Rees starting, when he had guys like Floyd and Eifert as security blankets.

 

Now he has Nicklas and Daniels to throw to and no one with meaningful experience to hand off to, but we should expect two more wins?

How about a friendly bet... $20 bucks good

 

Of course Golson wasn't the reason we won all those games last season and he did need bailing out a couple of times but we also don't win all those games w/o him.

He extends plays and Rees doesn't. Golson can throw them down field and rees can't.

What is going to be so different than before with Rees and inexpierenced RB's.

 

-Golson is a better QB than Rees, no doubt about that, but a rookie Golson and a senior Rees are comparable (each with different pros and cons of course). Rees can read defenses and Golson cant and that is a big thing for QBs; Golson struggled quite a bit with that. Rees has an entire off-season to improve. Is it not reasonable to think Rees will improve from his junior year to his senior year?

-Rees is more experienced with a better defense than what he had in 2011, that is simply a fact, so I am not sure why you are comparing 2011's team based solely on the QB position. If we had the 2012 defense in 2011, we would have easily won 10 games that year, even with the TOs.

-The RBs being replaced where not all that great to begin, while we may lack experience at the RB position, the talent is still there, if not better. I cant even count how many times last year everyone was complaining about the run game in some of the bigger games. You make it seem like we are losing an All-American at the RB position.

yep--we have lost literally ALL OUR OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER and yardage----

 

2500 yards rushing from Theo/Cierre/EG

 

2500 yards passing from the starting QB

 

750 yards and a boatload of other advantages from our AA TE--

 

Plus we are forced into a COMPLETE overhaul of the offensive scheme we were building for golson.

 

 

Expecting the offense to struggle under those circumstances IS NOT overly negative IMHO.

 

 

We have a potentially GREAT defense, and a roster loaded with talent, so holding out hope for a 9-3 regular season ---and a bowl win --to 10-3---IS A LEGIT HOPE----

 

Looking for a BCS run is probably not a legit hope given everything.

 

Personally I am looking for 9-4 including the bowl game.

 

aloha's go irish!

Edited July 5, 201312 yr by hawaiiirish

Since Kelly has never named a starter before fall camp at ND, what evidence is there to support the conclusion that doing so will be beneficiàl?

 

Exactly. What difference has been seen in the past?

yep--we have lost literally ALL OUR OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER and yardage----

 

2500 yards rushing from Theo/Cierre/EG

 

2500 yards passing from the starting QB

 

750 yards and a boatload of other advantages from our AA TE--

 

Plus we are forced into a COMPLETE overhaul of the offensive scheme we were building for golson.

 

 

Expecting the offense to struggle under those circumstances IS NOT overly negative IMHO.

 

 

We have a potentially GREAT defense, and a roster loaded with talent, so holding out hope for a 9-3 regular season ---and a bowl win --to 10-3---IS A LEGIT HOPE----

 

Looking for a BCS run is probably not a legit hope given everything.

 

Personally I am looking for 9-4 including the bowl game.

 

aloha's go irish!

 

With all the stats being thrown around I think everyone is losing sight that this offense was TERRIBLE last year, I cannot believe it will be worse this year. As a team they have got to improve, even with Reese. If not than Kelly and Martins scheme needs to be called into question. Maybe they can hire Weiss to run the offense.

Golson is a better pure thrower and runner than The Gun but he will never see Sundays. Golson couldn't get past his 2nd read. That's why Johnny Football beat Bama bc he got past his 2nd read and beat Bamas secondary. Bama's QB couldn't run worth a **** either but he looked like a genius with two great running backs. Lets hope these freshman can carry the rock bc that's the only way we win over 7 games this season.