Rees' Play

[Big23Head]

Not sure if there is a thread on this and I did look. I apologize if I am duplicating and missed it.

Tommy Rees played a great game. Compared to the UM game where he looked completely lost, he really came in and performed solid. I understand he threw the pick at the end but overall great game. For some reason I almost felt like the offense looked more fluid with Rees at QB. He had some freshman mistakes but compared to how he looked earlier in the season the last two times he has played I thought he has been in command, cool and put together strong performances.

There is a lot of negative right now, just trying to focus on some positives.

 

[mick2]

yeah rees played like a champ!

if we kicked the ball at the end he and the whole team would be feeling awesome today. oh well.

I like Rees and wish him the best but i hope Crist gets his chance when he gets healthy again.

Crist can lead us to some special things, im not sure Rees has the ability but i wouldn't mind being proven wrong in a couple of weeks.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

It's refreshing to see a postive thread on here. This has been a brutal month with decommitments and losses taking center stage lately. I also liked the way Rees played. He was much better prepared and looked pretty good. A true freshman coming in with very little experience and he did pretty good minus a couple of plays. For the most part he was able to move the Offense.

 

[nd1]

i think you was ;looking at next years starter. he got a gun for an arm and made some good decision and some bad one. played very well considering the time he has.

 

[dskoo65]

i am a bit skeptical due to the fact that he was playing against one of the worst (if not the worst) pass defenses in D1 football....and they achieved this playing against a much lower caliber of teams.

 

[Big23Head]

True but he was still fairly accurate and composed for the situation. Regardless in situations like that the defense can be made to look great but he played well and that did not happen.

 

[IrishinSyria]

he got a gun for an arm

I was, for the most part, very happy with the way Rees played. But I definitely did not see "a gun for an arm." My only complaint with the call Brian Kelly made at the end of the game is that Tommy did not show once all game that he could complete a pass further than 15 or 20 yards. Watching the game live, he did not appear to have the arm strength to get the ball out on medium to deep routes, and when he tried his accuracy was atrocious. I think Tulsa saw that too, and in the second half they started to crack down on the short routes and dare Rees to beat them deep.

I had a quick conversation with my dad about this before the interception. Basically, we agreed that we'd rather not have the game come down to Ruffer (even though he's been great all year) but that, given Rees' apparent lack of armstrength, a throw to Floyd in the endzone would be a mistake (again, we covered all these points before the play).

 

[fitz_bu47]

I saw a kid that is perfect for the spread...I am in no way bashing Dayne, or calling for Rees to get the job when Dayne is back, but....Dayne is a prototypical pro qb, big, cannon for an arm, would be great in Charlie's offense...Tommy looked yesterday like he is better at doing the little things that make a spread offense run well, like hit the short routes w/ passes that lead the wr's down the field to make plays, his accuracy was important...Again I hope Dayne makes a full recovery and comes back again and can lead us to great things, I am just not as worried as I once was about what will happen if Rees has to be the qb.......by the way, he looks like he is 10, but I love the scowl!!

 

[Big23Head]

I agree Rees does not have a huge arm but he made the throws he needed to make. I lvoed seeing him take the open guy and his demeanor was calm. Like I said the offense and Tommy just looked fluid as compared to Dayne running it for some reason. Also is it me or does Tommy seem to struggle getting his mouth piece in and out every play haha.

 

[nd1]

I was, for the most part, very happy with the way Rees played. But I definitely did not see "a gun for an arm." My only complaint with the call Brian Kelly made at the end of the game is that Tommy did not show once all game that he could complete a pass further than 15 or 20 yards. Watching the game live, he did not appear to have the arm strength to get the ball out on medium to deep routes, and when he tried his accuracy was atrocious. I think Tulsa saw that too, and in the second half they started to crack down on the short routes and dare Rees to beat them deep.

I had a quick conversation with my dad about this before the interception. Basically, we agreed that we'd rather not have the game come down to Ruffer (even though he's been great all year) but that, given Rees' apparent lack of armstrength, a throw to Floyd in the endzone would be a mistake (again, we covered all these points before the play).

the olnly thing wrong with the last pass actually was he didn't put air under it and let floyd jump for it. which is what a young qb has to learn to do. he will be a good qb with more time and learning what type of throw to make.

 

[TDHeysus]

I thought he played well, it was a nice suprise. Im not saying he is ready to start now, or that he cant use alot of reps, but I liked what I saw.

He changed my perception of him since the Michigan game. While watching Rees play I said a couple of times, "hey! this kid has got some skills!" and he has noticeably improved since his Michigan performance.

I really liked his patience, and his timing that he had in the pocket.

If hendrix is better than this kid, then I think our near-future QB situation is squared away.

 

[CanadianIrish]

Tommy Rees is a prototypical spread QB - mobile, throws well on the run and is highly accurate.

The knock on him has been his arm strength, and it was very evident why during the game. His accuracy on short throws is great, as is his accuracy while on the run. However, ask him to throw more than 15 yards and it becomes an adventure, and that doesn't even need to be 15 yards downfield (case and point being the out to Floyd on the last drive, thrown from the right side of the field to the left about ten yards downfield and it required a circus catch).

I actually prefer Rees to how Crist had been performing earlier in the year, but he's not the perfect solution. If the deep ball isn't a threat then at some point a capable pass D is going to start crowding the line of scrimmage and playing tight on our receivers. I'm not sure Tommy is capable of responding to that.

However, his ability to throw on the run is really refreshing and it adds something very important to our offensive attack. You could see that Kelly took immediate advantage of that.

The important thing to remember with this kid is that he really is a kid. Jimmy was a 20 year old freshman when he took his first snap, Tommy turned 18 in May. He is a true freshman and he's almost certainly still growing. He has a very high football IQ, his dad is a pro scout, and hopefully the arm strength will come.

I don't think we should hold our breath for something miraculous to happen, but I think he's going to put up good numbers the rest of the year.

 

[BurningRiver]

i dont know about you guys, but i saw confidence in rees that i never saw in crist.

i was also impressed with the accuracy and zip this kid puts on the ball. the mos impressive throw, in my opinion, was the laser touchdown pass (i think it was his third?) to floyd in the back of the endzone. the ball zipped past three defenders and hit floyd in a place where he could catch it. if the ball was placed anywhere else, it wouldve gotten tipped or picked. i haven't seen throws like that from dayne and havent seen it since watching jimmy whip the ball around the field to golden tate last year.

 

[Riddickulous]

i the mos impressive throw, in my opinion, was the laser touchdown pass (i think it was his third?) to floyd in the back of the endzone.

That would have been intercepted by any other team than Tulsa. Rees locked on to Floyd and was looking for him the entire time, tracking his progress all the way to the middle of the field.

 

[Irish Man3]

Im not sure where highly accurate and gun for an arm come from. He was inaccurate on almost every throw over 10 yards. He made a lot of great throws andd smart decisions but to say he was "highly accurate," is a bit of a stretch. On short intermediate routes, he was accurate and knew what he was doing. I am very impressed with his progress and thats a tribute to him and BK. Remember after the Michigan game BK said he would have the back-ups more prepared and I think we saw that. He showed a lot of progression and I hope it continues because it's his team for the rest of the year.

 

[BurningRiver]

That would have been intercepted by any other team than Tulsa. Rees locked on to Floyd and was looking for him the entire time, tracking his progress all the way to the middle of the field.

it wasn't a good decision, but a good pass. the locking on to floyd was a common freshman mistake. i know that it wouldve been picked by anyone else, but im just saying that that was a really nice pass.

 

[TDHeysus]

the locking on to floyd was a common freshman mistake.

he defintely made some freshman mistakes, but hey, he is a freshman!

He showed some poise, much more than the typical freshman. He was calm, deliberate, and didnt seem to get rattled much, if at all. if nothing else, its a good starting point.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I was really pleased with the way he played. He showed confidence, stood in the pocket, threw pretty good. It will be interesting down the stretch. Crist looked the same way earlier in the season, but as we began to loose and slip, so did his confidence. I will be fortunate enough to be at the Utah game and I'm looking forward to seeing him run the offense with a couple more weeks practice with the first team under his belt.

 

[TerryTate]

Thank god we have a bye week.

 

[aubeirish]

Physical abilities is what he is lacking. His football IQ is really really good. I also thought he made quick decisions with the ball.

 

[TerryTate]

I still can't tell if it was just the playcalling that was making him look so good or if he just had a much better / composed pocket presence. I am a Rees fan. I think he will be much improved next week after taking reps with the first team.

 

[Old Man Mike]

One more guy's view [which proves that everyone sees these things differently, so no one should assume it's they who has it right]: I saw a cool kid who ran in there under heavy stress and did not shake. In that, he looked calmer than Dayne has looked most of the year. Maybe that was phoney, but that's how he looked to me.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kelly called the game as he would have called the base offense to begin with---several receivers out mainly on short or decoy routes. Rees surveyed options, apparently did progressions, and threw highly accurate passes of short yardage nature. He appeared to be a very accurate short-passing dart thrower. While this was going on, the offense worked.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the game progressed, Kelly experimented with how much Rees could do. Some of that he could "stretch" into, some running for example. This also seemed "cooler" than Dayne had been managing. Whether this was all Tulsa or not, even in the game Rees seemed more relaxed than Dayne during the action.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Kelly kept trying to expand the offense, Rees hit his CURRENT limit. Longer routes were more tentative. The reads against a deep-playing fearful Tulsa defense were harder. Whether his arm strength was a fault, or whether he was too tentative and trying to cut it too fine ["aiming"?] rather than just playing and letting it rip, I can't say. It would be nice to actually get facts on what the staff thinks his arm strength is rather than speculating.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rees did an astonishing surprisingly calm job. He looked the part of a quarterback even under horrendous circumstances. There should never be a speck of criticism of his body of work that day. All this is to say nothing as to whether he should be the QB next year. We have three other guys who will compete for that.

 

[TDHeysus]

I still can't tell if it was just the playcalling that was making him look so good or if he just had a much better / composed pocket presence.

it was probably a little of both. Look at the throw to Eifert that went for a good yardage. The kid was in the pocket, nice footwork, in rhythm, not jittery, delivered the ball on target, on time. to me his footwork mirrored his progressions. he was in position(mechanic-wise) to make the throw to any recevier that was going to be open.

Good technique is what im trying to say.

 

[Riddickulous]

I want to see what Tommy looks like with 10-15 pounds on his frame. He can't be more than 200, right now.

He's even listed as 6'3". He has to be 6'0".

 

[Big23Head]

I think this B&G article is a good one about Tommy. It really explains what I felt like I saw on the field (excluding the Michigan game). I thought Tommy looked relaxed, calm and fluid with the offense. A lot of us have said similar things. I will be extremely happy if he continues his play like that this week in a huge game.

Also they list him as 6'2" 210 lbs. Weight seems a little high to me

BlueandGold.com // Rees ‘Spreads’ His Wings

 

[TerryTate]

ESPN Article on Rees

ESPN Article on Rees

Tommy Rees steps into spotlight for Irish - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Welcome to the big stage, young man.

 

[Big23Head]

I love his quotes at the end of both articles about playing a big time team...

“It’s still football and it’s still just a game — and you’ve got to prepare like that,” Rees said. “You can’t get caught up in all the things going on around it.”

"I'm just anxious to play," Rees said. "I'm not too nervous. At the end of day, it's just football."

 

[IrishLax]

Good stuff. If we had Riddick or Allen I'd like our chances in this game. As is, just have to hope Tommy takes care of the ball better and we may have a chance.

 

[CanadianIrish]

This game will tell a lot about him, the Utes are no Tulsa when it comes to pass D and Tommy is going to be forced to do things he couldn't do last week. All we can do is hope for the best.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

We've had enough time to gameplan, and build a strategy to get our fast players into space. Cierre Wood needs to get the ball somewhere passed the line of scrimmage, same with Floyd. Is riddick playing?