New Ground for Tommy Rees

[NDisme]

Not to mention that he played for his dad. I know it wasn't at the college level but if any has ever had your dad coach your team you know what i am talking about. Your dad always harder on you and laways counts on you. Its like no matter what sometimes you can'twin at all. So i have a feeling him dealing with Coach Kelly isn't that bad.

Oh man i played for my dad and that was a hellish experience, it makes me even more comfortable with tommy's bounce back ability b/c nothing was harder than playing for my dad. It sucked

 

[tonyroberts4life]

As much as i didnt want to, I watched the usf game again and watched Rees closely. He can flat out throw the ball. He IS the future of this team and I personally feel good about it. He seems so comfortable under pressure and we all know that is rare for such a young player. ND will win a lot of games with Rees at the helm. GO IRISH!

 

[dre1919]

In my opinion, Tommy isn't the type of guy that you set out recruiting to be the face of the program and touted as a "great". But, he has good leadership intangibles and can throw the ball accurately. If all he brings to the table is the ability to "not lose the game" (instead of winning it) and he moves the sticks...I'm good with that. Especially considering the options we have at QB right now.

 

[NDisme]

Ill take accuarcy, decisiveness, and a great ability to bounce back over arm strength and body type evryday of the week

 

[tommyIRISH23]

I feel more confident with him on the field. Hes in charge, and he doesn't have as bad of an arm as everyone seems to believe

 

[DCirishfan]

I think he loves the big stage. As well documented, he started in ND stadium, Yankee stadium, the LA Coliseum, and then the Sun Bowl. Now he gets another classic venue . . . the Big House and around 110,000 people.
I'm not worried - he'll be ready and step up to add another big notch to his belt.

Yeah that Yankee stadium game was some stiff competition!

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

I'm telling you guys.. everyone on this board will have a huge man-crush on Tommy boy come Sunday.

What are you going to think when he hangs 38 on the skunks this weekend?

 

[NDinFL]

I'm telling you guys.. everyone on this board will have a huge man-crush on Tommy boy come Sunday.

What are you going to think when he hangs 38 on the skunks this weekend?

That's the kinda talk we need around here!

 

[rikkitikki08]

Tommy just knows how to win, well that and make the right reads and throw accurate. Tommy will be fine, i dont see the big house getting to him

 

[irishfan]

What are you going to think when he hangs 38 on the skunks this weekend?

That Floyd and Wood are studs. I like Tommy and he'll be good in this offense. No reason why he can't be a Tony Pike for us, but he is no threat to throw the ball more than 40 yards and thats troublesome against an elite D IM.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

That Floyd and Wood are studs. I like Tommy and he'll be good in this offense. No reason why he can't be a Tony Pike for us, but he is no threat to throw the ball more than 40 yards and thats troublesome against an elite D IM.

I'm more concerned with his inability to escape a good pass rush, but he's the best we've got right now.

 

[kmoose]

That Floyd and Wood are studs. I like Tommy and he'll be good in this offense. No reason why he can't be a Tony Pike for us, but he is no threat to throw the ball more than 40 yards and thats troublesome against an elite D IM.

That's troublesome for an elite D. It means he is way more likely to complete a 10 yard pass to Floyd or Eifert, that they end up turning into a 40+ yard gain.

 

[TDHeysus]

I think BK will hold Tommy more accountable than he has in the past, primarily because he is the starter now. I also think that Tommy Rees is going to respond in a big way.

I think Tommy's poise combined with his experience on the big stage, as others have pointed out, will help him out tremendously. Yes playing Army isnt super tough competition, but being the first QB to win a game in iconic Yankee stadium is responding on the big stage in a big way.

Just like 'please and thank you' will take you far in life, 'poise and experience' will take you far on the football field

 

[ErieIrish13]

That Floyd and Wood are studs. I like Tommy and he'll be good in this offense. No reason why he can't be a Tony Pike for us, but he is no threat to throw the ball more than 40 yards and thats troublesome against an elite D IM.

He won't need to throw it 40 yds. Floyd and Tj will have already burned the secondary after 20 yds

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm just kinda randomly chiming in here, but I think (hope) Tommy can throw it accurately for more than 40. Hell, I can do that. Maybe after 50 it becomes a bit iffy though.

 

[irishff1014]

With some of the speed we have on this offense if tommy can get the ball to them in the 25-30 yard range them guys can get yards after the catch. We are going to need Eifert and Wood are going to be very important in this game.

 

[Guyjin37]

I'm just kinda randomly chiming in here, but I think (hope) Tommy can throw it accurately for more than 40. Hell, I can do that. Maybe after 50 it becomes a bit iffy though.

I think so, too--from what I've seen, Tommy has a much stronger arm than last year and displayed good touch on the deep ball against USF.

 

[Old Man Mike]

This might be a good place to say this: although I don't think that Tommy Rees will ever be error-free [and we will need to be a little bit more tolerant than we usually are with things like that], I believe that neither [yep, NEITHER] of his interceptions vs USF were primarily his fault, and I don't think Kelly feels so either. Why??

We've talked a lot about TJ having the ball bounce off his pads, so maybe I don't have to belabor that one. Coach certainly went right after TJ on the sidelines, not after Tommy. But what about the "Floyd interception"? The first thing that I noticed about that one was: Tommy immediately jumped in the air after delivering the ball. It looked to me that something had surprised him. When they got to the sideline, Kelly went not to Tommy but to Mike. He spent almost all the next minute talking to Mike about something and I've got to believe it was the route he ran.

Bottomline: I believe that it's at least possible that Tommy made NO really bad bonehead throws --- sure it would have been nice if the one fade to Floyd would have been in-bounds, but heck, no one's perfect every time.

I guess the point of this post is that we may have an even better unpolished gem than appears. Hope so. Hope we give him the support he needs on the field.

 

[BurningRiver]

I think so, too--from what I've seen, Tommy has a much stronger arm than last year and displayed good touch on the deep ball against USF.

totally agree.

that fade to floyd in the endzone, in stride, for the 1st TD was absolutely gorgeous. Right on the hands, in stride.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I'm just kinda randomly chiming in here, but I think (hope) Tommy can throw it accurately for more than 40. Hell, I can do that. Maybe after 50 it becomes a bit iffy though.

I think it's more of an arm strength issue than a lack of accuracy at range. I'm sure Tommy can make an accurate pass at 45-50 yards, but how quickly can he get the ball there?

 

[GoldenDomer2357]

I think it's more of an arm strength issue than a lack of accuracy at range. I'm sure Tommy can make an accurate pass at 45-50 yards, but how quickly can he get the ball there?

Absolutely agree. I feel as though this is one of the main reasons BK started Crist last weekend, because he has raw physical ability including arm strength. Where Crist has physical tools but lacks some mental aspects, Rees is decisive and may lack an arm at times.

 

[phgreek]

Absolutely agree. I feel as though this is one of the main reasons BK started Crist last weekend, because he has raw physical ability including arm strength. Where Crist has physical tools but lacks some mental aspects, Rees is decisive and may lack an arm at times.

I guess I am in this camp in my way of seeing it...

I am learning that decisiveness ie timing trumps arm strength...Dayne can unload a ball and fit it in, but how many yards after the catch do we get in that scenario?

Tommy seems to see the coverage, anticipate the "hole" and throw to it resulting in more opprotunities for yards after catch, and generally a ball our receivers can handle. As well, comeback stuff (hooks, curls, outs), he gets the ball out such that the elusiveness of receivers is utilized to the max...ie the space they create is usually at its greatest when the ball ARRIVES allowing for athletes to do their thing.

As well, as I look at it...I can only recall one play last year where the strength of Dayne's arm did something Tommy just could not do...the rainbow ball to Rudy against Michigan...great play, but by all accounts the only one I can recall where Dayne was the only guy on our team (or the entire stadium) that could have made that throw.

....so my takeaway...

Tommy's lesser arm will only be a factor...IMHO, if he hesitates, or makes a bad read to begin with, or on the freak broken play where a receiver comes open 50 yards down field, and running dead away.

 

[General Colon Bowel]

I agree that Dayne Crist is more physically impressive than Rees. However, when it comes to throwing the long ball, I think Rees has more confidence to do it and he gets it done. There's no reason to be concerned about Tommy's arm strength when he makes the throws that he did last game. Like phgreek said above, there won't be very many times when Rees' arm will need to make throws that it can't. Especially compared to the amount of throws in this offense that Crist's arm has shown it can't make (slants, timing routes, etc.)

Here are the stats from the USF game:

Crist
1-10 yard throws: 7-12 95 yards 0 TD 0 INT 7.9 YPA
11-19 yard throws: 0 completions 2 attempts
20-29 yard throws: 0 completions 1 attempt

Rees
1-10 yard throws: 17-21 130 yards 1 TD 1 INT 6 YPA
11-19 yard throws: 3-7 70 yards 1 INT 10 YPA
20-29 yard throws: 4-5 96 yards 1 TD 19.2 YPA
2 Throwaways

Now, keep in mind one of Rees' 11-19 yard throws was that perfect ball over the middle that Riddick dropped.

 

[ulukinatme]

New article about Tommy up on ESPN, thought this was interesting:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Before he could lead a group of older teammates into Yankee Stadium, and before he could quarterback the first Notre Dame team to win at USC in a decade, Tommy Rees had to go 78 yards in 3 minutes, 26 seconds at Libertyville High School.

Only a high school sophomore at the time, Rees took his Lake Forest teammates 77 yards, enough to set up a game-tying field goal before his game-winning touchdown pass clinched a 23-20 overtime victory, knocking the hosts out of the playoffs.

"He put the team on his back," Lake Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli recalled. "That's probably my biggest memory of him."

The stage has gotten slightly bigger in the four years since, as Rees finds himself directing Notre Dame into a Michigan Stadium that is expected to host the biggest crowd in college football history Saturday night.

For a kid who grew up in a football family, the situation is hardly daunting.

Rees' father, Bill, spent 17 years as an assistant with Northwestern and UCLA before working for four NFL teams. His older brother Danny played at UCLA.

"This kid was at Rose Bowl games when he was young," Spagnoli said. "He's been around high levels of football as a youngster, so I don't know that stadiums really intimidate him. He was on the sidelines when he was 10 years old at NFL games, so he's probably got an advantage growing up in that environment."

That shows during preparation in the film room, where tight end Tyler Eifert says a lot of players don't initially know what exactly they're looking for.

That wasn't the case with Rees.

"I think a lot of the quarterbacks see film differently than other people," Eifert said. "He just sees the whole defense as a whole instead of just looking at one guy or end up watching the offense, actually, instead of watching the defense."

Offensive coordinator Charley Molnar said Rees broke down every play from the first half of the Fighting Irish's loss to South Florida flawlessly -- all the more striking since Rees didn't take a snap until the third quarter.

"I think he's got a real innate sense about the game of football," Molnar said. "He has some real football intelligence that other players just don't have, and that's just a product I think of him growing up in a football family, No. 1.

Fully article here: Tommy Rees growing up fast to lead Irish - Notre Dame Football Blog - ESPN