Post Game Observations.........

[kmoose]

I think we have a great team that just doesn't know how to be great yet....if that makes any sense.

I'm not convinced of that, but neither am I all that skeptical of it. There's too much Jekyll and Hyde to this team, for me to be all that comfortable with using the term "great".

 

[BGIF]

By The Numbers: ND vs. Navy
By Lou Somogyi

More at the LINK

3 Touchdowns rushing by senior running back Jonas Gray, the first Irish player to tally three on the ground in a game since Travis Thomas scored three times in the 46-44 triple-overtime loss to Navy in 2007. ...

4 Rushing touchdowns surrendered by Notre Dame all season after allowing one to Navy. The Irish entered the contest behind only Alabama for fewest rushing TDs permitted, and they were tied with TCU for second place nationally. In fact, over the past 17 games, only two running backs have scored on Notre Dame.

5 Straight games Jonas Gray has scored a rushing touchdown. That’s the longest streak by an Irish running back since Ryan Grant achieved it in five straight games during the 2002 campaign. Gray entered this season with zero touchdowns in his first three seasons.

7 Rushing touchdowns by Notre Dame, the most in a game since its 48-0 romp against Purdue on Sept. 24, 1992. ...

7:54 Minutes and seconds milked off the clock by Navy’s offense during the game’s opening possession. ... No score.

56 Points scored by Notre Dame, the most it racked up against the Midshipmen since a 56-13 decision in 1987. ... The number also represents the longest Irish pass this year, a 56-yard score to Michael Floyd to make it 21-7 in the second quarter.

77 First-half points scored by Notre Dame this year against the two service academies. The Irish took a 42-16 halftime lead at the intermission on Oct. 8 against Air Force by scoring touchdowns on all six first-half possessions, and against Navy it was 35-7. ...

158 Pass attempts by Notre Dame, dating back to the third quarter of the Sept. 24 victory at Pitt, in which the Irish quarterback was not sacked. Notre Dame went through the entire month of October without yielding a sack, and has permitted only five all year.

 

[BGIF]

Five things we learned: Notre Dame 56, Navy 14 | Inside the Irish

Keith Arnold
10/29/11

Details at the LINK

After an embarrassing Saturday, the Irish just needed to get back on the field.

Bob Diaco has officially exorcised his Navy demons.

A week after disappointing, the Irish’s two star players came to play.

Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray are officially 1A and 1B.

Brian Kelly has his finger on the pulse of this team better than anybody else.

While you may not agree with his tactics, Kelly inherited a senior class that was one of the most heralded recruiting groups in the country, yet has played below .500 football up until this point of their career. After replacing a coach that had different rules for different players, Kelly would much rather play bad cop and let a group of assistants he knows and trusts keep the team together, than except mediocrity when pressure is at its highest.

Nowhere in Brian Kelly’s job description does it say he needs to be a players’ coach. After watching his team play undisciplined and lackadaisical football for seven games, Kelly decided to use the media to send a message to the leadership of his football team. The press obliged and the veterans took the bait. Using one of the oldest tricks in the book, Kelly galvanized his team as they head into November

 

[phork]

13-10, hopefully Stanford wins but this game also might show that we can play with Stanford.

Ha Ha Ha Ha. That's a good one.

We'd find a way to bitch after winning a NC...

I don't think so. Because by that point we aren't turning over the ball reguarly and the team is not making mind numbing mistakes.

Not to pat myself on the back but I called it when there was 1:18 left.

Don't break your arm bro.

Watching USC vs Stanford just makes me pray we never see OT with how susceptible to TOs our red-zone offense is. These two teams look good right now.

OT against those 2 teams won't happen, its usually over at half.

But, it also makes you think that losing to USC wasn't as embarrassing as people think.

We're close.

Yes it was embarrassing. For all the crap they went through, losing kids to transfers because of sanctions, new coach etc, it should have been atleast a competitive game. We are not close.

We were on the goal line, about to tie the game in the 4th quarter before Dayne Crist fumbled. We came out rusty, but we bounced back and were in great position to win the game. All of our losses have had an insane combination of bad bounces and freak turnovers. We are close.

You didn't watch the same game I did then. Because what I saw was a team get dominated on both sides of the ball. And if you are playing the "whatif" game, what if GA3 didn't return that kick off? Sorry, you can't play that game. We got stomped.

I think we have a great team that just doesn't know how to be great yet....if that makes any sense.

I would agree with this about 70%.

 

[Bigpetunia]

Although I was certain we'd win this game handily, we've got to remember who we beat. All this talk about how "close" we are now, and of how we should qualify for the BCS is kind of embarrassing. We've beaten one reasonably quality opponent this year, MSU, and our schedule is pretty weak....who do we play next, Wake Forest? (Wake Forest??) Stop worrying about whether or not we're BCS caliber (we're not!) and just enjoy the season for what it is!

 

[arrowryan]

Although I was certain we'd win this game handily, we've got to remember who we beat. All this talk about how "close" we are now, and of how we should qualify for the BCS is kind of embarrassing. We've beaten one reasonably quality opponent this year, MSU, and our schedule is pretty weak....who do we play next, Wake Forest? (Wake Forest??) Stop worrying about whether or not we're BCS caliber (we're not!) and just enjoy the season for what it is!

Wake Forest is no slouch so far this year. They are 5-3 with a win over Florida State

 

[NDinL.A.]

Although I was certain we'd win this game handily, we've got to remember who we beat. All this talk about how "close" we are now, and of how we should qualify for the BCS is kind of embarrassing. We've beaten one reasonably quality opponent this year, MSU, and our schedule is pretty weak....who do we play next, Wake Forest? (Wake Forest??) Stop worrying about whether or not we're BCS caliber (we're not!) and just enjoy the season for what it is!

How is our schedule 'pretty weak'??? Name 5 schools in the nation that had a more difficult opening 4 game stretch. We didn't have any 'gimme' games to start the season with, like every single team in the nation gets. Every single week we played a team that was playing their Super Bowl against us. Even Purdue. If we had played Kent State our first game, followed by Western Michigan, THEN followed by Michigan and MSU and Pitt, then we're looking at a 7-1 record and a possible BCS game. Instead, we played an uber-motivated USF team that we couldn't make mistakes against (meanwhile, Bama's QBs threw 4 INTs in their rout vs Kent State), and then went on the road at night to Michigan.

And btw, Wake Forest stands at 5-3, beat FSU and will be bowl-bound. ANd it's a road game. A bit tougher than playing The Citadel, no? Not saying we are a BCS team at all, but please, you sound like a troll when you talk about our schedule like that...

 

[phork]

The USF loss is killing us. UM and USC atleast are decent record wise.

 

[koonja]

The USF loss is killing us. UM and USC atleast are decent record wise.

I have to say the USC game is worse. At least vs. USF and UM, anyone who has a clue about football can say 'yep, ND was the better team but had a ton of unfortunate plays'. If we beat USC, everyone forgets the earlier losses but USC whooped us in front of 60 recruits and after our bye week. We were not the better team that game, and it was more disappointing to me than the other two losses. USC was the first team we weren't better than.

 

[NDFan537]

I have to say the USC game is worse. At least vs. USF and UM, anyone who has a clue about football can say 'yep, ND was the better team but had a ton of unfortunate plays'. If we beat USC, everyone forgets the earlier losses but USC whooped us in front of 60 recruits and after our bye week. We were not the better team that game, and it was more disappointing to me than the other two losses. USC was the first team we weren't better than.

I agree completely as more disappointing, but it is far less devastating. We should have beat USF, and we beat Michigan until the 5:00 mark in the forth. USC beat us from start to finish. I was there, and it hurt, but at least I can't look back and say we beat ourselves. It happens, if you don't create turnovers, and turn it over yourself you are going to lose when you play a superior team.

That being said I hope to see the plan in this offense. I think we go out with an attitude that we don't need to grow. I pray our identity is not "Throw the ball to Michael, and hope we can block well for Jonas and Cierre." I want to see us beat someone that challenges us on offense. We haven't done that. Pitt is terrible so don't try and find some diamond in the rough with that last drive. We should have done that from start to finish and never even had that drive to talk about. Our offense is predictable and vanilla. All a D has to do is cover Floyd and Eiffert, and stack the box against the run. One team could do that and we gave 9 extra opportunities to the other two losses.

I want to see BK give the reins to his QB and let him win it, or lose it. Don't go out there and hope he has enough weapons..................

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

The touchdown that you are talking about was with about 2 minutes or so left in the half. The band had left their post for the halftime show, hence no Victory March.

This happened last week for the FG against USC at the end of the first half. Now that we have music going, they should add the Victory March for situations just like this.

No the one I'm talking about was when the band started playing The Victory March and the PA **** on them with rock music.
I'll have to re-watch the game on my DVR to find the exact score.

 

[jonesman]

We will not beat Stanford with Tommy Rees at QB. His inability to escape pressure and lack of arm strength are severallly limiting to our offense.

Why do you think that Kelly is calling so many sideline passes and short dink and dunks. Watching this game from the stands yesterday, it is obvious why Rees struggles against elite team with speed. His ball takes so long to reach the receiver that teams with speed can close on everything he throws downfield.

Call me a Rees hater. I am not, but I am a Rees REALIST!!! He is severly limiting our offense. Yes we ran up 50+ on Navy. Big deal. That was not done because Tommy is so good. We had better athletes at WR, RB and OL.

When the other team has good athletes like ND, our glaring weakness shows. Tommy is not taking this or any team to a BCS.

I hope you watched Stanford last night. Their D will eat Tommy alive.

 

[koonja]

We will not beat Stanford with Tommy Rees at QB. His inability to escape pressure and lack of arm strength are severallly limiting to our offense.

Why do you think that Kelly is calling so many sideline passes and short dink and dunks. Watching this game from the stands yesterday, it is obvious why Rees struggles against elite team with speed. His ball takes so long to reach the receiver that teams with speed can close on everything he throws downfield.

Call me a Rees hater. I am not, but I am a Rees REALIST!!! He is severly limiting our offense. Yes we ran up 50+ on Navy. Big deal. That was not done because Tommy is so good. We had better athletes at WR, RB and OL.

When the other team has good athletes like ND, our glaring weakness shows. Tommy is not taking this or any team to a BCS.

I hope you watched Stanford last night. Their D will eat Tommy alive.

Word, since the USF game Crist has been perfect in the very limited action he's seen. He is 8 for 9 with the one drop being on a perfectly thrown dart to Eifert vs. USC. He's been very accurate, gotten the ball out on time and with a lot of zip. I'd love to see the golden boy get another chance. I've seen enough of Rees make the same mistakes over and over again.

And no, I'm not the coach, I just think Dayne has a lot to offer.

We know who we are with Rees at QB. I don't know about anyone else but I will definitely look back and wonder what this offense was capable of if Kelly didn't pull Crist after one bad half in the first game.

 

[NDinL.A.]

We will not beat Stanford with Tommy Rees at QB. His inability to escape pressure and lack of arm strength are severallly limiting to our offense.

Why do you think that Kelly is calling so many sideline passes and short dink and dunks. Watching this game from the stands yesterday, it is obvious why Rees struggles against elite team with speed. His ball takes so long to reach the receiver that teams with speed can close on everything he throws downfield.

Call me a Rees hater. I am not, but I am a Rees REALIST!!! He is severly limiting our offense. Yes we ran up 50+ on Navy. Big deal. That was not done because Tommy is so good. We had better athletes at WR, RB and OL.

When the other team has good athletes like ND, our glaring weakness shows. Tommy is not taking this or any team to a BCS.

I hope you watched Stanford last night. Their D will eat Tommy alive.

No one is saying otherwise. It's not like you're saying something groundbreaking here. He still gives us a better chance to win at this time than anyone else on the roster. And I like winning.

Word, since the USF game Crist has been perfect in the very limited action he's seen. He is 8 for 9 with the one drop being on a perfectly thrown dart to Eifert vs. USC. He's been very accurate, gotten the ball out on time and with a lot of zip. I'd love to see the golden boy get another chance. I've seen enough of Rees make the same mistakes over and over again.

LOL. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound the way you keep throwing that stat out there??? So...Crist has looked great against 2 back-up (sh!tty) defenses in blow-out wins and USC for a few passes. Interesting how you LOVE to throw out Rees turnovers, but you gloss over the fact that Crist turned the ball over on the one yd line on the biggest play of the season for us.

When the game is in doubt, how does Crist play? How did he play against Navy last year? When Rees came in against Navy last year, he looked fantastic, after Crist looked like complete sh!t. Were you pining for Rees then because he scored against a team that didn't care? If you weren't, then you aren't being true to your argument. And if you were pining for Rees, then you don't know what you want. You pining for Crist b/c he's looked good in ONE drive in a 4th quarter blowout against sh!tty teams is laughable, especially after the starting QB dominated the very same team when it counted.

Sorry man, but that stat you keep touting makes it sound like you don't know football at all. I know you follow the game, so you might want to find a different stat to tout Crist. Personally, I love Crist and I wish he'd be our starting QB simply for everything he CAN bring to the table. Unfortunately, QBs don't play the games in science labs, they play the game on the field, and Crist fails terribly when the chips are down or all the marbles are on the line...

 

[jonesman]

Kuen,
Let me say that when Dayne came in yesterday, the fans all commented on how different his passes look and how much more mobile he can be.

It is really scary watching Tommy live. His ball is soooo slow getting to the receiver. Further, I noticed that his ball floats with even a little wind. Yesterday was cold and a little breezy on the field. I believe Kelly taylors back any downfield passing because he knows Rees can't get a good ball there. The one long ball to Michael was a floater.

All you Rees supporters can keep praising him against mediocre talent. He withers when the D has speed. Stanford will INT him atleast a couple times. Further, they will sack him repeatedly because he cannot move.

 

[jonesman]

Hey LA,
You point out Crist's ugly turnover at USC. Yes, he is responsible for that freak mistake.

So, how responsible do we hold Rees for letting a ball fall out of his hand on the UM goalline?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for throwing an INT into triple coverage in the redzone at UM?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for an INT on third down at UM?? YES, those three killed us at UM. TOMMY was more responsible for losing UM than Crist was for USC.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Kuen,
Let me say that when Dayne came in yesterday, the fans all commented on how different his passes look and how much more mobile he can be.

It is really scary watching Tommy live. His ball is soooo slow getting to the receiver. Further, I noticed that his ball floats with even a little wind. Yesterday was cold and a little breezy on the field. I believe Kelly taylors back any downfield passing because he knows Rees can't get a good ball there. The one long ball to Michael was a floater.

All you Rees supporters can keep praising him against mediocre talent. He withers when the D has speed. Stanford will INT him atleast a couple times. Further, they will sack him repeatedly because he cannot move.

LOL..go back and look at the Stanford game last year, and see how many times Crist got sacked and hit. His mobility didn't help.

You Rees haters like to support Crist, which is fine, but why do you overlook all his shortcomings??? Did you NOT see his fumble against USC when the season hung in the balance? Did you NOT see him put up zero points after the Gray fumble against a crappy USF defense (that Rees later torched)? Did you NOT see him meltdown, throwing balls over his receivers heads, and skipping them on the ground after the Gray fumble? Did you NOT see him vs. Navy (NAVY!!!!) last year? Did you NOT see him fumble in the 4th quarter when we could have put MSU away last year? Did you NOT see him standing on the sideline vs UM last year with what we STILL don't know was wrong with him to this day (while other players in the same situation have to be dragged off the field). Did you NOT see him against BC last year after the 1st quarter???

Seriously, we know Rees' limitations. But you two act like Crist is some savior. Crist is a better-looking QB...Rees is a better on-the-field QB, period. Stop ignoring what we all saw with Crist just because you hate Rees...

 

[koonja]

No one is saying otherwise. It's not like you're saying something groundbreaking here. He still gives us a better chance to win at this time than anyone else on the roster. And I like winning.



LOL. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound the way you keep throwing that stat out there??? So...Crist has looked great against 2 back-up (sh!tty) defenses in blow-out wins and USC for a few passes. Interesting how you LOVE to throw out Rees turnovers, but you gloss over the fact that Crist turned the ball over on the one yd line on the biggest play of the season for us.

When the game is in doubt, how does Crist play? How did he play against Navy last year? When Rees came in against Navy last year, he looked fantastic, after Crist looked like complete sh!t. Were you pining for Rees then because he scored against a team that didn't care? If you weren't, then you aren't being true to your argument. And if you were pining for Rees, then you don't know what you want. You pining for Crist b/c he's looked good in ONE drive in a 4th quarter blowout against sh!tty teams is laughable, especially after the starting QB dominated the very same team when it counted.

Sorry man, but that stat you keep touting makes it sound like you don't know football at all. I know you follow the game, so you might want to find a different stat to tout Crist. Personally, I love Crist and I wish he'd be our starting QB simply for everything he CAN bring to the table. Unfortunately, QBs don't play the games in science labs, they play the game on the field, and Crist fails terribly when the chips are down or all the marbles are on the line...

Like he did vs. Michigan last year when he did everything he could to give us a chance to win? When we outscored Michigan last year 24-7 with him at QB?

Again, the mental midget label you've given Crist is exaggerated IMO. I've seen him play well vs good teams. Yes, his sample size is VERY small post-USF, but he doesn't seem to be a guy who 'shits his pants' out there, even after an incredibly humbling season. And even if he does get rattled against a good team so what? It's not like Tommy does any better against good defenses!

And I applaud Crist for coming in the USC game when it was do or die with about 2 minutes notice and throwing the ball very well. Again, not indicative of a guy who shits his pants. I'm just not ready to label after one bad half in the first game. And if you're going to say 'ok, well, look at last year', explain why he played great in a come from behind loss to Michigan last year.

I don't think Crist is God's gift to football, and I know that this argument can inevitably end with 'well BK thinks Rees is better, as evident by him starting' and I really can't counter that, but I do think this team would be better offensively if he had stuck with Crist.

 

[Riddickulous]

LOL. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound the way you keep throwing that stat out there??? So...Crist has looked great against 2 back-up (sh!tty) defenses in blow-out wins and USC for a few passes. Interesting how you LOVE to throw out Rees turnovers, but you gloss over the fact that Crist turned the ball over on the one yd line on the biggest play of the season for us.

When the game is in doubt, how does Crist play? How did he play against Navy last year? When Rees came in against Navy last year, he looked fantastic, after Crist looked like complete sh!t. Were you pining for Rees then because he scored against a team that didn't care? If you weren't, then you aren't being true to your argument. And if you were pining for Rees, then you don't know what you want. You pining for Crist b/c he's looked good in ONE drive in a 4th quarter blowout against sh!tty teams is laughable, especially after the starting QB dominated the very same team when it counted.

Sorry man, but that stat you keep touting makes it sound like you don't know football at all. I know you follow the game, so you might want to find a different stat to tout Crist. Personally, I love Crist and I wish he'd be our starting QB simply for everything he CAN bring to the table. Unfortunately, QBs don't play the games in science labs, they play the game on the field, and Crist fails terribly when the chips are down or all the marbles are on the line...

All great points.

Kuen,
Let me say that when Dayne came in yesterday, the fans all commented on how different his passes look and how much more mobile he can be.

It is really scary watching Tommy live. His ball is soooo slow getting to the receiver. Further, I noticed that his ball floats with even a little wind. Yesterday was cold and a little breezy on the field. I believe Kelly taylors back any downfield passing because he knows Rees can't get a good ball there. The one long ball to Michael was a floater.

All you Rees supporters can keep praising him against mediocre talent. He withers when the D has speed. Stanford will INT him atleast a couple times. Further, they will sack him repeatedly because he cannot move.

The same fans were ripping into Crist after USF.

Tommy Rees has been sacked 4 times this year. Four ****ing times. He hasn't been sacked in 4 games.

When this season has Tommy's lack of mobility caused multiple sacks? A marble statue could go through a Saturday afternoon relatively unscathed behind our OL. We are outrageously good in pass protection. Michigan State's tremendous front seven got to him once. Rees was not sacked at all against USC.

Stanford's defensive line got destroyed by USC's. They dominated on the ground and Barkley had all the time he wanted to throw.

Hey LA,
You point out Crist's ugly turnover at USC. Yes, he is responsible for that freak mistake.

So, how responsible do we hold Rees for letting a ball fall out of his hand on the UM goalline?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for throwing an INT into triple coverage in the redzone at UM?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for an INT on third down at UM?? YES, those three killed us at UM. TOMMY was more responsible for losing UM than Crist was for USC.

Rees is a true sophomore. Crist is a senior. Therein lies your difference. Young quarterbacks are expected to make mistakes. It's all part of the growing process.

Tommy Rees is completing 66% of his throws. When he throws inaccurately, the ball is still catchable. When Dayne Crist throws inaccurately (quite often), the chances of completing the pass are slim.

When faced with adversity, Tommy Rees has delivered. He led a crucial game-winning drive that should have beat Michigan. He led a great drive at the end of the second half against Sparty at a crucial moment in the game. Despite playing horribly against Pittsburgh, he led a great drive to beat them in the fourth quarter. He was leading us back against USC and you can't blame him for the lateral.

What has Dayne Crist done when faced with adversity? After a turnover on the opening drive of the season, Crist completely folded. They were down 7-0 in the first ****ing quarter and he folded. They had a chance to tie the game against USC and he botched a snap on the most important play of the night. He can't deliver.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

I don't care for Crist or Rees. I'm not sure we have a championship QB on the roster now. But I'd like to see Hendrix get a full quarter to see what he can do. Yesterday would have been a great chance to see that.

 

[CoachB]

I probably could have picked a less heated topic for my first post. However, I will provide my thoughts on the Crist vs. Rees debate anyway. I will start off by saying that I was a big Crist supporter in the offseason. I did not think that Crist looked that bad against USF. Yes, his INT in the endzone was horrible. Rees did come in and have success moving the ball, however, Crist was moving the ball too. I am still one that thinks Crist would have success if he were in there. I think he has had horrible luck. The fumbled snap looked like miscommunication to me. Those of you that have ever played quarterback or center know that if the football hits high on the forearms like it did, it is not usually a sign of purely a mishandled snap. It appeared he was not ready for the snap when it came. It could have been his fault, maybe not. I, like others on here, think Rees has been ok, not great. Turns the ball over too much, IMO. Riddickulous, I am a big fan, but the lack of experience favoring Rees is not a great argument. Rees has more experience running this offense than Crist does. Therefore, he shouldn't be expected to make more mistakes. However, at the end of the day, even though I think Crist has more potential, Coach Kelly knows more about QB's then I do. And most likely, more than all of you do. If he says Rees is his best, than Rees is his best. Once he flipped to Rees at halftime of USF, there was no turning back. Sorry, so long-winded, just my two cents.

 

[pkt77242]

Hey LA,
You point out Crist's ugly turnover at USC. Yes, he is responsible for that freak mistake.

So, how responsible do we hold Rees for letting a ball fall out of his hand on the UM goalline?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for throwing an INT into triple coverage in the redzone at UM?? How responsible do we hold Tommy for an INT on third down at UM?? YES, those three killed us at UM. TOMMY was more responsible for losing UM than Crist was for USC.

Because we had the lead with 30 seconds left against Michigan and our D **** the bed. Yes Tommy didn't help and he gets the assist there, but he had us at the cusp of victory until our DB's forgot how to cover.

The worst part of the fumble against USC wasn't even Dayne mishandling the snap, it was his inability to fall on it.

 

[Domer4ever]

I don't care for Crist or Rees. I'm not sure we have a championship QB on the roster now. But I'd like to see Hendrix get a full quarter to see what he can do. Yesterday would have been a great chance to see that.

I would like to see Golston, who to me looked like the most talented QB on the roster in the spring game. That kid has wheels, escapability, and by far the best arm out of the group.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

All great points.



The same fans were ripping into Crist after USF.

Tommy Rees has been sacked 4 times this year. Four ****ing times. He hasn't been sacked in 4 games.

When this season has Tommy's lack of mobility caused multiple sacks? A marble statue could go through a Saturday afternoon relatively unscathed behind our OL. We are outrageously good in pass protection. Michigan State's tremendous front seven got to him once. Rees was not sacked at all against USC.

Stanford's defensive line got destroyed by USC's. They dominated on the ground and Barkley had all the time he wanted to throw.



Rees is a true sophomore. Crist is a senior. Therein lies your difference. Young quarterbacks are expected to make mistakes. It's all part of the growing process.

Tommy Rees is completing 66% of his throws. When he throws inaccurately, the ball is still catchable. When Dayne Crist throws inaccurately (quite often), the chances of completing the pass are slim.

When faced with adversity, Tommy Rees has delivered. He led a crucial game-winning drive that should have beat Michigan. He led a great drive at the end of the second half against Sparty at a crucial moment in the game. Despite playing horribly against Pittsburgh, he led a great drive to beat them in the fourth quarter. He was leading us back against USC and you can't blame him for the lateral.

What has Dayne Crist done when faced with adversity? After a turnover on the opening drive of the season, Crist completely folded. They were down 7-0 in the first ****ing quarter and he folded. They had a chance to tie the game against USC and he botched a snap on the most important play of the night. He can't deliver.

Relatively speaking they are about the same in the development process. In fact, Rees has been playing this style of offense since high school. It is understandable that Rees has been more comfortable running this offense. Rees has been asked to manage games. Crist was expected to learn this offense last spring. Then he was expected to win games not just manage games last year. I frankly think he did a good job considering his experience and the amount of time he had to pick up this offense.

I frankly don't see much of a difference in performance between the two. I still think Crist is held to a different standard than Rees. It doesn't matter because Kelly has made a decision and this team will win or lose with Rees at the helm.

Spare me the intangible bullsh!t about how Rees is mentally better than Crist. We will never know how Crist would have performed the second half of USF...he wasn't given an oppurtunity. We do know that Rees led the team back against Pitt (after playing arguable worse than Crist played against USF) because he was given the oppurtinity. Each of these players have made bonehead plays...to somehow infer mental weakness for one player and not the other is complete horsesh!t.

 

[Riddickulous]

I would like to see Golston, who to me looked like the most talented QB on the roster in the spring game. That kid has wheels, escapability, and by far the best arm out of the group.

He played against second and third teamers. He was also 9/18 passing.

 

[pkt77242]

I also find the turnover Tommy thing kind of funny, as Crist wasn't much better last year

Crist in 8 games last year (not counting Tulsa) had 7i nt
Rees in 8 games this year has 8 int

You say bring up Tommy's fumbles against UM and MSU?
I would tell you that Crist had at least 1 fumble last year against MSU and I am having a hard time finding a breakdown of fumbles by indivual players for last year.

Just to point out, statistics are nice (not sure who the lateral to Theo got charged too).

 

[Irish2015]

Don't know if this has been posted anywhere but champs sports bowl reps were there yesterday.

 

[CarrollVermin]

Why does this topic come up every two to three weeks??

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

LOL..go back and look at the Stanford game last year, and see how many times Crist got sacked and hit. His mobility didn't help.

You Rees haters like to support Crist, which is fine, but why do you overlook all his shortcomings??? Did you NOT see his fumble against USC when the season hung in the balance? Did you NOT see him put up zero points after the Gray fumble against a crappy USF defense (that Rees later torched)? Did you NOT see him meltdown, throwing balls over his receivers heads, and skipping them on the ground after the Gray fumble? Did you NOT see him vs. Navy (NAVY!!!!) last year? Did you NOT see him fumble in the 4th quarter when we could have put MSU away last year? Did you NOT see him standing on the sideline vs UM last year with what we STILL don't know was wrong with him to this day (while other players in the same situation have to be dragged off the field). Did you NOT see him against BC last year after the 1st quarter???

Seriously, we know Rees' limitations. But you two act like Crist is some savior. Crist is a better-looking QB...Rees is a better on-the-field QB, period. Stop ignoring what we all saw with Crist just because you hate Rees...

Kinda feel like your support of Rees in the Rees vs. Crist argument has you blinded to how much Tommy's limitations that you note really do hold back this offense. I dont believe Crist is perfect either, but Rees has gotten a MUCH longer leash than Crist and he has made more than his fair share of boneheaded inexcusable plays as well. The thing I dont get is he doesnt have the potential to be any more than what we have already seen. Dayne showed flashes last year before he got hurt, then he got one half coming injury and was a bit rusty for sure. The logic that Rees is head and shoulders our best chance to win right now doesnt make much sense, and is actually hard to argue considering he is pretty much ALL we have seen, and Hendrix has been just as impressive if not moreso in his limited snaps.

 

[enrico514]

I don't care who the QB... put in the one that gives us the best chance of winning TODAY!!!

IMO... you can blame Crist for the horrible interception in the USF game but you can also blame TR for a number of horrible mistakes over the last 2 years. Dayne didn't look right against USF... you could see it in his eyes, I believe BK saw this and this is why he pulled him. If Dayne ever he figures it out he is a significantly better QB than TR. If not, TR will continue managing games for us but he will never win games for us and be the leader this team needs. His physical flaws are just too obvious and will keep us from winning games against quality opponents. NEXT YEAR... BK will play the QB he believes gives hi the best chance of winning and odds are it won't be TR... even if we win out!