What do you guys think about starting Hendrix?

[meowmix]

I'm not going to mince words. I'm not a big fan of Tommy Rees. Pretty much every good defense we've gone up against, he's made horrible decisions, and we've either lost or the team guts out a win in spite of him. He essentially has two things going for him: he's a "gamer" (whatever the hell that means) since he's 8-2 (whatever the record is under him, I don't care, and I'm sure HCTI will post it at least twenty times); and I freely admit he doesn't suffer from the same mental mishaps Dayne does after mistakes.

I'm not saying Hendrix is way ahead of Tommy Rees, but his physical tools are undeniable, and I say give him a chance. I think we all know Kelly's spread works at its optimum efficiency with a mobile QB (yes for God's sake I know Kelly said he won with Tony Pike - unfortunately, this isn't f***ing Cincinnati). We can get wins over Navy, Maryland, and BC with either QB. Why not let Andrew take the snaps instead of potentially throwing him to the wolves next season?

 

[fitz_bu47]

I like Tommy, he is a tough kid, but he is limited talent wise. To me, if Andrew or Everett can run the offense then I think they give us the best chance b/c of the diversity they bring w/ their legs........That said, this isn't my dynasty on NCAA '12, B-Kelly and the staff, know what they have, and who can handle the job. I have faith in them.

 

[DillonHall]

I think that this is a good question. I was a big Dayne supporter over the offseason then supported Tommy following the Michigan game. But it's clear that he's not the long-term plan. Kelly's in a tough spot because I'm sure he knows Tommy's limitations will also limit the team; at the same time, he's probably the best option for wins, and Kelly knows that he needs to win at ND.

 

[meowmix]

I like Tommy, he is a tough kid, but he is limited talent wise. To me, if Andrew or Everett can run the offense then I think they give us the best chance b/c of the diversity they bring w/ their legs........That said, this isn't my dynasty on NCAA '12, B-Kelly and the staff, know what they have, and who can handle the job. I have faith in them.

haha so true. Obviously, our debate won't influence the team one bit. I was just curious and wanted some feedback as to how a decent sample of our fans felt about it.

 

[meowmix]

I think that this is a good question. I was a big Dayne supporter over the offseason then supported Tommy following the Michigan game. But it's clear that he's not the long-term plan. Kelly's in a tough spot because I'm sure he knows Tommy's limitations will also limit the team; at the same time, he's probably the best option for wins, and Kelly knows that he needs to win at ND.

He may be the best option for wins right now but is a Champs Bowl berth worth potentially not getting wins next year (because I have not seen anything yet that inspires any confidence that Tommy Rees can even dream of getting it done against the likes of Oklahoma)?

 

[koonja]

I'm game.

 

[tadman95]

A handful of play against Air Force doesn't tell us much. Wouldn't want to be Kelly on this one,

 

[zemaniak]

expect to see much more of #12 vs. Navy and moreso afterwards if he does well. Tommy's injury and Dayne fumble gives BK the ideal situation to insert Hendrix in w/out ruffling feathers

There you go, I called it. Here's hoping the kid is up to it.

 

[nin05]

Just catching the tail end of the Oklahoma/Texas Tech game, I just kept watching Landry Jones and how confident he was in the pocket. Stepping up and throwing bullets. The guy is 6'4", 230lbs... he is impressive to watch. Do we have that type of quarterback in Hendrix? I don't know... and no one will until he gets his chance. The mind set of Kelly was BCS or bust. Now that we've busted, why not get the kid a lot more reps and prepare for 2012?

 

[NDFan4Life]

IMO, what do we have to lose?

We don't know if Hendrix can pass the long ball, but I'd like to find out. We know he can scramble and throw the short passes. I'd like to see Kelly give him a shot at it.

 

[irish4ever]

I was little surprised when Kelly reinserted Crist in the play where he fumbled at the 1 yd line. I thought that once Hendrix came in for the play before, that he would stay for the rest of the drive .... either get it in the end zone, kick a FG or get stopped on 4th down.

 

[JeremyND07]

I do not care as long as we LOSE the (2) quarterback system. EVERY time Henrdix came out of the game and Reese/Crist came back in something bad happened. The quarterback merry-go-round allows no room for a QB to build momentum or confidence. It does NOT work!!!

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

I am totally game and wouldn't blame BK if he went that way. What do we have to lose? WE are freaking 4-3! And I don't want hear the crap that he is 8-2 as a starter. All I know is that he is 8-4 when he plays the most snaps as the QB. Is 8-4 good enough? Yes if you want to play in the Sun Bowl, and I feel Tommy is a Sun Bowl type of QB. Above average. Elite----not even close. And we have no idea about Everett or Andrew. We know know about Dayne. And we know about Tommy for the most part. Tommy Im sure will get better, but he still can't run. He still is under 6'2 (stood next to him at the Sun Bowl and he isn't 6'2" I am and I was looking down at him 6-1if he is lucky. He still doesn't have a big arm (better than it was last year on that left out Saturday, nice throw).

Sorry, what do we have to lose finding out what we have in Andrew? More loses? We have already lost 3! I guess I am kind of done with Turnover Tommy. Hope he gets better, because I have a feeling we are seeing him the rest of the way.

 

[aaronb]

I do not care as long as we LOSE the (2) quarterback system. EVERY time Henrdix came out of the game and Reese/Crist came back in something bad happened. The quarterback merry-go-round allows no room for a QB to build momentum or confidence. It does NOT work!!!

Totally agree on the rotating QB's during drives. It seemed to kill the offensive momentum whenever we did it.

I think Rees is far and away the best option we have. He get the ball out of his hands on time. He's improving as a decision maker.

I'd like Hendrix to be the full time #2

Dayne Christ is just always late with the throw. I don't want to see him on the field in anything less than an emergency situation going forward.

 

[DillonHall]

He may be the best option for wins right now but is a Champs Bowl berth worth potentially not getting wins next year (because I have not seen anything yet that inspires any confidence that Tommy Rees can even dream of getting it done against the likes of Oklahoma)?

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's a tough balance between the present and the future. Obviously we want to get to the BCS and it's not happening this year. However, if Hendrix replaces Tommy and the team loses more, then BK could find himself on the hot seat. Here's to hoping that Hendrix gets better quickly and can beat out Tommy.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Good points, and the reason I have felt that Tommy is playing the rest of the year. Dayne had a super short leash, Tommy has a leash 10 miles long.

 

[JoeyGetherall]

IMO, what do we have to lose?

We don't know if Hendrix can pass the long ball, but I'd like to find out. We know he can scramble and throw the short passes. I'd like to see Kelly give him a shot at it.

We (on this msg board) have nothing to lose. BK has his job to lose so I'll leave it up to him to decide who gives ND the best chance to win.

I think the evidence we have so far on Hendrix is a bit skewed. He came in and did well against a bad defense who probably did not prepare for that package much all week. They had better things to worry about like Mr. Floyd. We saw what happened with Hendrix against a better defense that prepared for his package all week.

I say stick with Tommy and work in Hendrix every so often. ND has winnable games coming up so I think they'll be ok... But, whatever they do I hope Dayne stays on the sideline with his red hat on.

With all that said next spring should be a all out open competition. Give Hendrix or Golson the opportunity go take it from Tommy.

 

[NDFan4Life]

We (on this msg board) have nothing to lose. BK has his job to lose so I'll leave it up to him to decide who gives ND the best chance to win.

I think the evidence we have so far on Hendrix is a bit skewed. He came in and did well against a bad defense who probably did not prepare for that package much all week. They had better things to worry about like Mr. Floyd. We saw what happened with Hendrix against a better defense that prepared for his package all week.

I say stick with Tommy and work in Hendrix every so often. ND has winnable games coming up so I think they'll be ok... But, whatever they do I hope Dayne stays on the sideline with his red hat on.

With all that said next spring should be a all out open competition. Give Hendrix or Golson the opportunity go take it from Tommy.

If Kelly articulates why he's starting Hendrix instead of Rees, I think most reasonable fans would understand. With Rees getting injured, that may just be the excuse to get Hendrix in there.

I do understand what you mean though. I've supported Rees since he came in against USF. I think he does give us the best chance to win.

 

[meowmix]

When he says we have nothing to lose, I think he means that with either qb, we can beat Navy, Maryland, and BC. Losing the other two games won't do much to affect BK's status as Head Coach, but having Hendrix start those games gives him experience that could be valuable if (hopefully when) he gets the job next year.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Can understand that, and hard to argue against it. But, we will run into the same arguement next year. Tommy having 2 years of playing and Andrew spot playing. So, we are stuck with Turnover Tommy next year because he has the most experience and the best chance to win, because we don't know what Everett or Andrew can do since they haven't played. And we need to win, so we have to stick with Turnover. Or do we bite the bullet now and see what Andrew has, siince we have zero shot of a BCS or a good bowl game with 3 loses now and a 4 on the horizon in Stanford.

A hard place to be, and a very hard decision for BK. So, if I was a gambling man I would say Tommy is our QB for the rest of this year. And then the same questions pop for next season. And is he really going to put a redshirt QB in next year without and injury to Tommy?

 

[Irish4Life09]

I know I'm in the very small minority...but I still believe in Dayne,and would love to see him start again. I think the only reason he made the mistake against USC was lack of playing time.That couples with all of the pressure got to him.It could happen to anyone. But before that he was really driving us down the feel with great accuracy,aside from his first throw. I would love to see him really get another shot...and think he could really do some great things for us.

 

[meowmix]

I like Dayne a lot. But everybody can see how much he is affected by mistakes. He doesn't bounce back well, which doesn't make for a good QB. And at this point, we're looking to the future. After this year, Dayne graduates, and I assume will have some great job offers in the real world.

And in response to Olympia, yeah, I can easily see Tommy starting the rest of the year. The unfortunate thing is we don't play a good defense again until Stanford. Since the running game will be doing well, Tommy will do fine against the likes of Navy, Maryland, BC, etc., just like he has been. I assume against Navy he'll probably throw a touchdown or two, no interceptions and people will puff up about how much he's matured. Then we'll face Stanford, won't be able to run, and this convo starts up again.

 

[Irish52]

Dillon: How do lyou know Rees is the best option for wins...when we have never really given Hendrix a chance! I vote for letting Hendrix star the Navy game and let him play the entire game...win or lose. We don't really have much to lose this season.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Yeah, Stanfords run defense is sick. They did give up to runs 40/60 to a 1st round caliber running back in Chris Polk from UW. But, held him to 44 yards there after. So, it will be on Tommy agains Stanford. We will see. If Cierre can't run, will Tommy resort to the turnover machine?

 

[NDFan4Life]

I think the Dayne train has left the station. He gets that "deer in the headlights" look when things go wrong, and he just doesn't seem to recover. Don't get me wrong, I really do like Dayne. But I just don't think he gives us the best chance to win.

Also, meowmix has it right. We could probably win with either Tommy or Andrew in. Why not just give Andrew the experience?

 

[JoeyGetherall]

I know I'm in the very small minority...but I still believe in Dayne,and would love to see him start again. I think the only reason he made the mistake against USC was lack of playing time.That couples with all of the pressure got to him.It could happen to anyone. But before that he was really driving us down the feel with great accuracy,aside from his first throw. I would love to see him really get another shot...and think he could really do some great things for us.

Oy vey

 

[IrishOldFart]

I am all for giving Hendrix the opportunity for more playing time, maybe not starting, but at least giving him multiple series in a row. By playing a mobile QB for longer periods of time the defense will always have to respect the QB running the football on designed runs or scrambles.

 

[JoeyGetherall]

Dillon: How do lyou know Rees is the best option for wins...when we have never really given Hendrix a chance! I vote for letting Hendrix star the Navy game and let him play the entire game...win or lose. We don't really have much to lose this season.

C'mon gentleman this "we have nothing to lose ****" has got to stop. Get real! We have a lot to lose. Especially those current recruits we are so fond of. Finish the season 8-4, 9-3 and make it to a winnable bowl game. Keep winning and get us too next year. They can let the QB competition pan out in the spring and fall of 2012.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

I like Hendrix. After Saturday I've been having a glass half empty perspective and I don't like it, so I'm really just upset that we don't know who our guy is halfway through the season. I think if BK has a solid gameplan for playing both, I'm all for Hendrix getting more snaps.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

JOey, totally understand your point. But, doing this is the same thing as going into the season next year with Turnover Tommy with the experience and Andrew with spot play and Everett with no experience. Do you pay the piper now or later?

Of course we have to win to save recruits, we all know that. But, do wo let Andrew play. Or go forth with Turnover and let it play out in the off season.

Pay the piper, pay now or pay later, etc.