Oct 6 | Miami

[Ironman8]

@ByCasagrande

Miami starting defensive tackle Olsen Pierre officially out for Miami-Notre Dame.

They were already the 115th ranked rush defense. Who ever is QB, let's run it. A ton.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

Run. Milk the clock. Let our D be rested.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

Part of me is like "OH NO!"

And then the other part is like "Screw it, let's just win the game."

I really would rather see Golson, but I trust BK enough that if this is true, there is probably good reason for it. I wouldn't mind seeing a resurgence in our rushing attack. Especially from a guy that I thought would be absolutely lighting up by now. I'm looking at you, Cierre.

Whoa...hang on a second. I agree that our running game has not been up to par, but, it has nothing to do with CW's effort.

 

[irishfan]

rumors on rivals, Tommy is now getting the nod for the start....

FL, was this rumor on Rivals started by a credible guy or no?

 

[Emcee77]

Miami's starting DT being out and Miami's overall poor rush defense makes me think starting Tommy isn't such a bad idea. If the goal is to win this game by running the ball, why not use the smarter, more experienced QB who is better able to check out of run plays into the right pass play if the defense sells out to stop the run?

Kelly even said in his presser that while Golson is improving in his ability to check out of run plays and into pass plays, he still has a long way to go and Tommy is far superior in this regard.

Not saying I think the rumors are credible though ... just speculating.

 

[FLDomer]

Whoa.

How credible? Anything to substantiate them? Or are we talking about idle speculation?

After Kelly's comments in the media this week I'd be pretty surprised if Golson didn't start.

I dont know how credible, I was just sayen there was a rumor. I dont think it will make that much of a difference cause we better be able to run and run well.

 

[Ironman8]

FL, was this rumor on Rivals started by a credible guy or no?

Pete Sampson did not refute it. In fact, he stated that he "hadn't heard enough to report" that Rees will be the starter. Telling statement, IMO.

 

[Pachuco]

Derailing the rumors for a second...

Here you go, amigos/as:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/88080308@N06/8054460562/" title="MantiM2 by ND Pachuco, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8054460562_49bd3f8b91.jpg" width="384" height="500" alt="MantiM2"></a>

 

[koonja]

rumors on rivals, Tommy is now getting the nod for the start....

 

[BGIF]

say what...

Did ya miss Touchdown Tommy's planned QB Draw for the margin of victory against UM?


Aside from that career run, the only thing I have is a cryptic Kelly comment, Bery posted from Kelly's presser. It was something like, "Golson's had a shoulder but worked through it, moving on". I don't know how close MY quote is to Bery's post or if Bery was verbatim. At the time I read about the shoulder (didn't say which or what the problem was) comment, I though why even report this as it wasn't mentioned as the reason (finger/hand) Golson got pulled against UM. It wasn't mentioned that he injured it in practice or on Trick Shot Monday. No details. The moving on part struck me as reminescent of Mark Dantonio's recent presser, "NEXT QUESTION!"

I didn't hear the presser so I don't know if the media followed up or not. I suspect not as this site would have been on fire.

Tommy has played against Miami but I don't see that as a decision making difference. A Golson injury or the team's inability to move the chains with him at QB would make more sense than a game two years ago.

Golson clearly has more talent and his running ability should be a huge threat against Miami. Perhaps Kelly is using the possibility of starting Rees as a motivation tool. Perhaps somebody at Rivals is just stirring the pot. Regardless, either QB, if healthy should be able to beat Miami.

 

[PANDFAN]

i support ND regardless of who is playing what positions; however i think it would be best to have Golson start...if he doesn't do well ie:michigan pull him and know what to expect from Rees..

 

[BGIF]

Pete Sampson did not refute it. In fact, he stated that he "hadn't heard enough to report" that Rees will be the starter. Telling statement, IMO.

Telling statement?

"Hadn't heard enough to report" means just that. Sampson isn't the Secretary of State.

 

[Ironman8]

Did ya miss Touchdown Tommy's planned QB Draw for the margin of victory against UM?


Aside from that career run, the only thing I have is a cryptic Kelly comment, Bery posted from Kelly's presser. It was something like, "Golson's had a shoulder but worked through it, moving on". I don't know how close MY quote is to Bery's post or if Bery was verbatim. At the time I read about the shoulder (didn't say which or what the problem was) comment, I though why even report this as it wasn't mentioned as the reason (finger/hand) Golson got pulled against UM. It was mentioned that he injured it in practice or on Trick Shot Monday. No details. The moving on part struck me as reminescent of Mark Dantonio's recent presser, "NEXT QUESTION!"

I didn't hear the presser so I don't know if the media followed up or not. I suspect not as this site would have been on fire.

Tommy has played against Miami but I don't see that as a decision making difference. A Golson injury or the team's inability to move the chains with him at QB would make more sense than a game two years ago.

Golson clearly has more talent and his running ability should be a huge threat against Miami. Perhaps Kelly is using the possibility of starting Rees as a motivation tool. Perhaps somebody at Rivals is just stirring the pot. Regardless, either QB, if healthy should be able to beat Miami.

Here is his presser with the quote on Golson's shoulder:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AuvljvZkFDY?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

I am shocked by this. Tommy starting against Miami, possible? What a perfect game for Golson to gain his confidence back. It must have rubbed Kelly the wrong way when the Miami coach stated their not planning any differently on defense whether Golson or Tommy is under center.

 

[Ironman8]

Telling statement?

"Hadn't heard enough to report" means just that. Sampson isn't the Secretary of State.

Sorry, but I believe the way he phrased his answer is telling. I usually do like to get caught up in semantics, but there is a difference between stating you had not heard enough to report something and not hearing something about it at all. Maybe that is just me, but that was the impression I was left with after reading his reply.

 

[tko]

[/IMG]

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

i support ND regardless of who is playing what positions; however i think it would be best to have Golson start...if he doesn't do well ie:michigan pull him and know what to expect from Rees..

Agreed, if he has issues against Miami early on, do what you did against the MICH game. From the sounds of it, Miami's defense is about as good as Navy's, and Golson did pretty well that game. Maybe open the play book a little more instead of the read option of the middle, where there is no reading, nor any option, plain and simple, it's a running play.

And
I love what Theo has done so far, but please please get Wood the ball more, he is the better all around back, quicker, faster, stronger, better blocker, more game time experience in the backfield.

 

[koonja]

I don't like this. And it's not just because I don't want Tommy to play QB.

Start Golson because he offers the most to the offense. IFF he's playing bad, you have semi-reliable Tommy to turn to. What if Tommy starts and plays like Tommy last year. What's your plan B??

 

[Emcee77]

I don't like this. And it's not just because I don't want Tommy to play QB.

Start Golson because he offers the most to the offense. IFF he's playing bad, you have semi-reliable Tommy to turn to. What if Tommy starts and plays like Tommy last year. What's your plan B??

Right. What happened to the "Everett's our starter, Tommy's a reliever" talk? Unless Everett's hurt I still expect him to start.

 

[FLDomer]

The upside to Tommy is the pre snap stuff. He generally makes the right call on what play to get us in or out of. Of course he is limited physically but who really our we to make the call, we dont know everything that is going one. Kinda like many of us were screaming for Crist to come back in at times last yr, now looking at crist at KU maybe BK is smarter than us...hmmmm

 

[Old Man Mike]

Let's keep it as pure BS folks until we hear/see differently. Rumors like this could start even from foolish misinterpretation, like Tommy taking first team snaps while Everett's shoulder smoothed out.

 

[BGIF]

Here is his presser with the quote on Golson's shoulder:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AuvljvZkFDY?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thanks for the embed. I'll listen to the full 37 minute presser later.

For now do you recall Kelly's comment on Golson's shoulder?

Did I (or Bery) misrepresent it in reiterating?

 

[NDinL.A.]

Right. What happened to the "Everett's our starter, Tommy's a reliever" talk? Unless Everett's hurt I still expect him to start.

Yeah, I'm not buying it, unless Everett is hurt. And if he's not hurt and Rees starts, I'm pissed, because of so many reasons (too many to go into over a rumor). But since it's just a rumor, I'm not going to get worked up over it. We heard the same thing before the MSU game from supposedly a reputable source over at DD, and that was BS...

 

[Emcee77]

Sapp says he is aware of the rumor and knows where it came from, and it did not start on a message board ... and that's all he's giving us.

(Not sure what to make of that ... )

ND has said nothing about the QB issue other than releasing a depth chart that listed Golson as the starter, so don't expect to know anything more for certain until after kickoff on Saturday.

 

[Ironman8]

Thanks for the embed. I'll listen to the full 37 minute presser later.

For now do you recall Kelly's comment on Golson's shoulder?

Did I (or Bery) misrepresent it in reiterating?

Q. You got into the bye week pretty good health wise. Anything noteworthy to update right now?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I mean, I would just say that both defensive linemen are almost back to full health. That would be Kapron Lewis-Moore and Sheldon Day. They played a little dinged up. The last few weeks of the bye week really helped them a lot. I would say that Everett had a little bit of a shoulder, and that's cleared up nicely. Moving forward, so, yeah, I would say the bye week came at a pretty good time for those guys that were nicked up.

Full Trascript:
Coach Kelly Press Conference Transcript - Miami Week - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

 

[BGIF]

Q. You got into the bye week pretty good health wise. Anything noteworthy to update right now?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I mean, I would just say that both defensive linemen are almost back to full health. That would be Kapron Lewis-Moore and Sheldon Day. They played a little dinged up. The last few weeks of the bye week really helped them a lot. I would say that Everett had a little bit of a shoulder, and that's cleared up nicely. Moving forward, so, yeah, I would say the bye week came at a pretty good time for those guys that were nicked up.

Full Trascript:
Coach Kelly Press Conference Transcript - Miami Week - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

Thanks for the transcript. I looked it over and only saw one of metion of Golson in Q&A and that was in reference to younger players developing/learning. Nothing else about the shoulder.

I would have asked a follow up question on the shoulder comment for details and if that's the reason Golson hasn't been involved in running plays, or if there was fear of no starter behind Golson if he got injured running.

 

[Irishnuke]

Maybe BK started the rumor to get inside Miami's head.

 

[Emcee77]

This is what I was talking about above:

Q. You improved your running game considerably from 2010 to 2011. I wonder what the correlation was there between that and having Tommy Rees at quarterback last year and his ability to check plays, including checking plays from pass to run?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, Tommy's strength was and still continues to be getting in very good plays. His weakness was we've turned the football over. We were balancing that all year in terms of the net benefits. But he continues to be a guy that can always get us in the optimum looks. In particular, when you're in the spread, the ability to get you running the football to the best looks. He does a great job with it. Everett's still in developing those skills. He's not where Tommy is. That's where we want to get Everett though.

Q. I was going to ask you. Is it more difficult to get a first year player to check from a pass to a run?
COACH KELLY: First, assuming that he has that responsibility. I think we generally like to start run to run, pass to pass. When you start to go from run to pass, you've graduated to the next level. You've gone from the 101 to the 201 level. We're not there on all circumstances, we are on some. But that is my earlier comments where he's still cooking. He's still learning how to get to that next level of making those checks.

If you are looking for justification for starting Tommy against Miami (and we all will be if he does start ... ) my guess is that this is where you'd have to start. Kelly wants to run the ball against Miami, but he needs a QB that can check out of a run play into a pass play where necessary.

 

[Cackalacky]

Run. Milk the clock. Let our D be rested.

Wood, Riddick, Atkinson, Carlise. All day. End game. Irish win.

 

[JughedJones]

Wood, Riddick, Atkinson, Carlise. All day. End game. Irish win.

A couple of 2nd and short, down field strikes to Eifert thrown in for good measure.