Blue and Gold Illustrated

June-July 2014

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI carry over into August. Now, if the house had to be bet on who will take the first snap versus Rice Aug. 30, the smart and safe bet is Gol‑ son. He's been on the grand stage and tasted both immense success and set‑ backs — an important step even the greatest have to experience to fully grow — whereas Zaire remains an un‑ known variable. Even David Woodley (an NFL ver‑ sion of Rees), after leading Miami to the Super Bowl in 1982, started the first five games the next year before rookie phe‑ nom and Pro Bowl pick Dan Marino usurped the throne. Not that Zaire falls into the Marino category, although his spring game (18‑of‑27 passing for 292 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions) had some Irish faithful thinking in that direction. Nevertheless, be cautious about put‑ ting too much stock into spring games. Zaire undeniably looked better than Golson, but it's almost become a curse for backup signal‑callers to outshine the projected starter or fan favorite in the spring. It seems traditional, if not mandatory, to prompt debate or elicit controversy in the ensuing months. We can point to numerous examples, but will point to only a few through the decades: • In 2011, Andrew Hendrix was the best of the four quarterbacks (Crist, Rees and Golson) in the spring game as a passer and runner (including contact allowed on the quarterback), scoring on 10‑ and 15‑yard runs to win the game for his team, 17‑14. • In 2010, walk‑on Nate Montana was 16‑of‑27 passing for 212 yards with three touchdowns to three different re‑ ceivers — in just the first half alone —when his team beat starter Crist's, 27‑19. • In 2003, Christian Olsen was the spring game MVP — and then left two weeks into fall camp (to Virginia) when freshman Brady Quinn moved ahead of him for the No. 2 spot. • From 1986‑88, Steve Belles' team beat the starters in 1986 (Steve Beuer‑ lein), 1987 (Terry Andrysiak) and 1988 (Tony Rice, who was 6‑of‑19 passing with two interceptions and vilified as the enemy to national title aspirations) in all three Blue‑Gold Games before moving to flanker his fifth year. • In 1976, Quarterback A completed 14 passes for 253 yards in the spring game and was named the MVP. Quar‑ terback B was 2‑of‑11 passing for five yards with two interceptions. Based on that, what idiot wouldn't take Quar‑ terback A (senior Rick Slager) over Quarterback B (junior Joe Montana)? Reality is probably somewhere in be‑ tween for Zaire. There is much ability and promise to work with there that cannot be ignored or downplayed, which is a boon for the team. However, real game competition is a different ani‑ mal, even as Golson learned during the 12‑0 regular season in 2012. Never un‑ derestimate those that have been battle tested. It's all part of every season's drama. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com

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