Who Plays QB in the bowl game?

[Dizzyphil]

I said this before and I'll say it again. I watched Ara go 7-2-1 with Bill Zloch, perhaps the worst starting QB in ND history. The worst loss that year was by 9 points to #1 ranked MSU. The tie was 0-0. We won all those games, and were competitive in the losses, because we had great line play and played disciplined football. With both those elements, all we had to do was bring in talented sophomores Hanratty and Seymour the next year and we won the National Championship. If Ara didn't have great line play and disciplined football, he could have had Jim Plunkett in 1966 (that era's equivalent of Andrew Luck) and it wouldn't have mattered.

Kelly came upon the scene inheriting the softest football program I'd ever seen at ND. He still has a ways to go, but the QB is the last piece of the puzzle. Kelly knows this, which is why he keeps talking about it. We need to take another step forward in toughness and discipline next year. That's what matters most.

Reps...

I am a firm believer in the quote, "Offense wins games, defense wins Championships". It is not all about the QB. ND is recruiting to build a solid offense/defense and if ND brass keep riding the coaching ferris wheel, ND will never compete. Kelly is on a path as all have seen with the current freshman class.

Diz

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Hendrix also made a heck of a throw to Floyd for the TD...it was a bullet!

 

[cLaRk_JoNeS]

I will only say, in Andrews 1 half of un game planned plays-I saw more creativity and formations/plays called then tommy has had all season. If BK could go back in time knowing this season was 8-4 no way does Rees ever see the field.

 

[cLaRk_JoNeS]

Hendrix also made a heck of a throw to Floyd for the TD...it was a bullet!

Live angle i thought is was gonna be an int, replay from QB view i was like woah-and Rees could never do that.

 

[Big Money]

After watching last night's game it looks like ND will be a team of diminishing returns for some time. I don't see them rising much above the 25 -20 mark in national rankings, at best. A team that consistently beats itself will consistently, never be a winner. I don't know what else the school can do to reverse this course. Recruiting? Coaching? Spirit? Sad.

 

[montanaquade]

This is an easy answer for anyone that watches and understands football.
Andrew Hendrix is our future he MUST start.
If he does not he bolts to someone else next year.
The Best qb is Hendrix hands down.
The bowl game does not matter because we are a mediocre team at best let Hendrix have his chance now and next year.

 

[kmoose]

I said this before and I'll say it again. I watched Ara go 7-2-1 with Bill Zloch, perhaps the worst starting QB in ND history. The worst loss that year was by 9 points to #1 ranked MSU. The tie was 0-0. We won all those games, and were competitive in the losses, because we had great line play and played disciplined football. With both those elements, all we had to do was bring in talented sophomores Hanratty and Seymour the next year and we won the National Championship. If Ara didn't have great line play and disciplined football, he could have had Jim Plunkett in 1966 (that era's equivalent of Andrew Luck) and it wouldn't have mattered.

Kelly came upon the scene inheriting the softest football program I'd ever seen at ND. He still has a ways to go, but the QB is the last piece of the puzzle. Kelly knows this, which is why he keeps talking about it. We need to take another step forward in toughness and discipline next year. That's what matters most.

With all due respect, there are more problems than just the QB. OLB is a big weakness, the secondary is suspect, and WR might be a real problem next season.

 

[aubeirish]

With all due respect, there are more problems than just the QB. OLB is a big weakness, the secondary is suspect, and WR might be a real problem next season.

No doubt. But regardless of the other problems we have, consistent QB play throughout the year would have put us in a BCS situation IMO.

 

[kmoose]

No doubt. But regardless of the other problems we have, consistent QB play throughout the year would have put us in a BCS situation IMO.

You can't say that. Closer games might have encouraged opponents to throw more, and our Secondary might have completely caved.

 

[philipm31]

You can't say that. Closer games might have encouraged opponents to throw more, and our Secondary might have completely caved.

You mean the secondary did not cave in against USC and MICH??? Come on now, you know that if ND had a much better QB at the helm of the team, ND would have been in contention for a BCS bowl. Easily.

But there are still a multitude of holes to fill for next year. But at least we won't have sh!tty DBs like Motta on the team anymore. Our front seven should be okay, though. OL is a concern, for sure. But if have a QB on the field who can be a leader and can be an on-the-field coach, then your chances of winning are greatly improved. It is the same in every sport, you need to have a natural leader, one who can anticipate and communicate to the other players what the coach wants and needs from everyone in order to get the job done. Right now, ND does not have that leader, but they may have found him last night.

 

[Irish To The Core]

In my opinion, this is an opportunity to see what Andrew Hendrix is made of. Tommy has had ample opportunity to show what he can do. Enrolling early definitely played to Tommy's strength (analytical understanding of the game). He parlayed that advantage into a secure starting spot. He has been good at times but his lack of mobility and inconsistency have been issues. However he is just a sophomore so I would not toss him aside like yesterday's news.

However, I do think it is time to hand Hendrix the ball and see what he can do. His strengths are obvious, but does he have a full grasp of the offense? Is he accurate enough? Will he make good decisions in the heat of the moment? It is time to find out. It is time to see what some concentrated preparation with the first team will do for Andrew's performance. He has earned it and going forward, that is information that will be invaluable.

 

[NDOM]

Gary Godsey with Pat Dillingham backing him up. LOL

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

I have a feeling Kelly wants to put Rees in there again. However, I feel that he will have to start Hendrix. Teams are starting to develop great game plans for Tommy (not saying hes hard to plan for) so that they completely shut him down. They have been daring Rees to throw the ball down the field but he simply cannot do it. If you put Hendrix in all that changes as he can make all the throws. Also if our Oline plays crappy again against whoever we play then you have to play Hendrix. He gives us the only chance to win if the Oline takes a dump with his scrambling ability. I have always supported Tommy but we just cant achieve much with him in there.

It has to be Hendrix or Crist.

Rees' inability to throw long or move in the pocket kills us. Both Dayne and Hendrix are more mobile. Dayne is more accurate than Hendrix, but less mobile than him. He will likely be leaving at the end of the year, so its time to START Hendrix.

Best chance to win is a toss up... Hendrix has not had enough snaps...but we might as well go with the future.

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

You can't say that. Closer games might have encouraged opponents to throw more, and our Secondary might have completely caved.

I don't think its unfair at all to say that. Sure other teams might have tried to be less conservative...but the fact is that our QB situation lost us 3 games this year. [USF, USC, and Stanford]

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

This is an easy answer for anyone that watches and understands football.
Andrew Hendrix is our future he MUST start.
If he does not he bolts to someone else next year.
The Best qb is Hendrix hands down.
The bowl game does not matter because we are a mediocre team at best let Hendrix have his chance now and next year.

Actually, it's unlikely he's "best" right now. But he is the future for sure.

 

[jason_h537]

Not entirely sold that Hendrix is the future but it has to be him. Rees looked downright scared against Stanford, i felt bad for him watching.

Hendrix needs to work on passing but he stretches the field and his running ability allows or him to extend plays.

 

[Patulski]

With all due respect, there are more problems than just the QB. OLB is a big weakness, the secondary is suspect, and WR might be a real problem next season.

I agree there are more problems than just the QB, which Kelly has to address with this recruiting class and the next one....

Still, we must build toughness in both lines.

From what I saw this year, we are a lot closer along the D-line than the O-line. Hopefully next year guys like Hanratty, Prestwood and Hegarty show up like Lynch/Tuitt/Hounshell and Niklas did this year. Same goes for the 2012 class when it comes to the secondary. I expect those guys to be playing early and often. I also think Daniels and Atkinson will play a lot next year. Atkinson has game breaking speed and Daniels has a good combination of size and speed.

I expect next year's team to hold serve, and then for the 2013 year to make a serious run at the NC.

 

[DANsanity15]

Crist... or Mulvey... that would be awesome.

 

[cLaRk_JoNeS]

So when do the practices start up. So we will have an actual answer.

 

[NankerPhelge]

I'll put 1,000,000 vbucks on Hendrix, if anybody wants to take it.

 

[BobD]

I'll put 1,000,000 vbucks on Hendrix, if anybody wants to take it.

Crap I think I'm about to say something controversial. Does anyone think BK really has a choice on who to start now? It's MHO that he knows if he tries to start anyone but Hendrix he'll lose a lot of fan base support and negatively impact the morale of the team. I think it's out of his hands. What do you think?

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Crap I think I'm about to say something controversial. Does anyone think BK really has a choice on who to start now? It's MHO that he knows if he tries to start anyone but Hendrix he'll lose a lot of fan base support and negatively impact the morale of the team. I think it's out of his hands. What do you think?

It'll be a game time decision. The players will know, but we won't.

 

[gspjeb]

Rees is better out of the starting blocks. I honestly think he gets the start and Hendrix gets worked in and probably takes over. Problem with Hendrix is he needs a warmup and probably would be best served not having the weight of starting.

I for one trust the coaches judgement on this as he knows what many of us blow off; Rees can look at the D and make adjustments......Hendrix can't yet. Its one thing to come into a game that your team is losing and play well....takes more to compete in a close one. I think Hendrix may be the future (or Golson, Kiel? etc) but he isnt quite as ready as the chat room coaches may think.

Not knowing which is going to start is going to give our opponent fits preparing for both.....I am glad for this

 

[GreatGolson]

It'll be a game time decision. The players will know, but we won't.

think so? i would think kelly names a starter the week of the game if not earlier

 

[4irishnation]

Rees is better out of the starting blocks.

Umm OK since that has been working so well lately.file:///C:/Users/Owner/Pictures/cheerleader14.gif

 

[kmoose]

Crap I think I'm about to say something controversial. Does anyone think BK really has a choice on who to start now? It's MHO that he knows if he tries to start anyone but Hendrix he'll lose a lot of fan base support and negatively impact the morale of the team. I think it's out of his hands. What do you think?

You might be right here. It's just like going into the Michigan game.... he benched Crist, Rees came in and played very well and really moved the offense. There was no way he could go back to Crist, to start the Michigan game. That being said.......

I still think it will depend on who the opponent is; if we draw a Defense that runs sophisticated coverages, requiring a lot of good pre-snap reads? It will probably be Rees. If we play a Defense that is athletic and really likes to pin their ears back and come after the QB? I think Hendrix is the obvious choice.

 

[kmoose]

Umm OK since that has been working so well lately.file:///C:/Users/Owner/Pictures/cheerleader14.gif

He has a point....... ND has more than doubled up their opponents, on the scoreboard, in the first quarter:

ND: 107
OPP: 53

 

[BurningRiver]

He has a point....... ND has more than doubled up their opponents, on the scoreboard, in the first quarter:

ND: 107
OPP: 53

To be fair, a lot of those points came in the AF and Navy games, when we burst out of the gates at a ridiculous pace both offensively and defensively. However, the question about Tommy hasn't been his ability to beat bad teams--he's done that very successfully. He struggles playing good teams. The two best teams we played--Stanford and Southern Cal--he looked almost scared out there. We couldn't get anything going against either team, especially Stanford. He can't escape pressure, and the only time our O-Line gave up any pressure was against those two teams--it shows that he can really only succeed when he's playing an average-to-below-average defense and isn't feeling much pressure. He doesn't have the mobility to get out of sacks or the arm strength to stretch the field and keep defenses from rushing too many guys. And if the running game isn't going he can't carry the offense, as shown by the SC and Stanford games. He isn't a game-changer, he just flows with the rest of the offense. He can't pick it up if it's not working.

Love the guy, but his ceiling isn't very high, and I think he's reached it. Hope I'm wrong, but I don't think he'll get very many more chances to prove himself.

 

[kmoose]

To be fair, a lot of those points came in the AF and Navy games, when we burst out of the gates at a ridiculous pace both offensively and defensively. However, the question about Tommy hasn't been his ability to beat bad teams--he's done that very successfully. He struggles playing good teams. The two best teams we played--Stanford and Southern Cal--he looked almost scared out there. We couldn't get anything going against either team, especially Stanford. He can't escape pressure, and the only time our O-Line gave up any pressure was against those two teams--it shows that he can really only succeed when he's playing an average-to-below-average defense and isn't feeling much pressure. He doesn't have the mobility to get out of sacks or the arm strength to stretch the field and keep defenses from rushing too many guys. And if the running game isn't going he can't carry the offense, as shown by the SC and Stanford games. He isn't a game-changer, he just flows with the rest of the offense. He can't pick it up if it's not working.

Love the guy, but his ceiling isn't very high, and I think he's reached it. Hope I'm wrong, but I don't think he'll get very many more chances to prove himself.

You didn't get the memo? Those losses are all because Rees is HORRIBLE!! Don't try to bring the O-line's failures into it now; you'll confuse the peasants.

 

[BurningRiver]

You didn't get the memo? Those losses are all because Rees is HORRIBLE!! Don't try to bring the O-line's failures into it now; you'll confuse the peasants.

Sorry, I meant something more like this:

REES SUCKSZ. HENDRIX 4 EVA