Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FIGHTING WORDS WES MORGAN A Long Journey To Nowhere What did you expect to see from the Notre Dame football team in 2011? Many believed this year's installment of Fighting Irish football was primed for at least 10 victories and an appearance in a BCS bowl game. Few forecasted an 8-4 reg- ular-season record. But that's where head coach Brian Kelly finds himself in his second year at the controls. "It's not what Notre Dame should be; it's not what we expected," fifth- year senior safety Harrison Smith said. "It is what it is. We're 8-4. That's what we are. At the end of the day, that's not good enough." Let's face it, the 28-14 loss to No. 4 Stanford on the road was expected. The Cardinal, with only one loss and Heisman Trophy-contending quarter- back Andrew Luck, represented the biggest test of the season for Notre Dame as soon as the schedule was released. Stanford offered several op- portunities for Notre Dame to stay in the game, but in the end the contest answered definitively just how far the Irish are from being an elite team. I figured it would. I wouldn't have guessed, however, that Notre Dame would head into bowl preparation with a new quarterback controversy. I thought we were past that, no mat- ter what any of us think about how the first one panned out. I didn't like Dayne Crist being re- lieved of his starting duties after only 30 minutes. Despite the fact that most readers agreed that the senior didn't get a fair shake, there were a few who did everything but call me a fool. Not that it really mattered; it wasn't our decision to make. And Kelly made it known that he didn't care what any- one thought, either. I decided that, even though my opinion never changed over the next 10 games, I'd see how things played out with sophomore Tommy Rees — a young man whom Kelly defended each and every week no matter what kind of performance the unassuming signal-caller turned in. I figured that if Rees were to strug- gle, Crist — who was demoted to No. 2 on the depth chart — would ob- viously step in. That's normally how depth charts work. But that didn't happen. Sophomore Andrew Hendrix, dubbed the "change-up" option that would help Rees excel, mysteri- ously jumped a rung. How exactly this happened is baf- fling. After rushing for 111 yards and completing all four pass attempts for 33 yards against Air Force in early October, Hendrix nearly disappeared altogether. When asked the day after Notre Dame's 16-14 victory over Boston Col- lege on Nov. 19 why Hendrix was no longer involved, Kelly had a response that made little sense. "As you see, we're committed to Tommy being in there," he said. "I think when we look at [the BC game] it's probably more about the time in the game. We were backed up quite a bit. You don't want to risk turnovers in those situations. "I think it has been [being up a lot] or in tight ball games that has pre- vented maybe him getting on the field." It seems like having a big lead would have been the perfect time to get Hendrix some snaps. That, or when the Irish needed a spark that Rees wasn't providing. Six days later, Hendrix — who wasn't ready for even spot duty ac- cording to his head coach — was the only one on the field in the second half versus Stanford. Rees was completely ineffective against the Cardinal in the first half, completing 6 of 13 pass attempts for 60 yards with an interception. He missed open receivers and, with little help from the offensive line, fumbled on a sack in the first quarter. If there was going to be a change at halftime, we expected Kelly to trade Rees for Crist. Guess again. "We're just trying to win games," Kelly said after the loss. "We're trying to find ways to win. … We felt like Hendrix gave us that chance today." Come again? What's going on here? The last regular-season game of the year is in the books, and the most important position on the team is in flux? Was Hendrix the No. 2 guy heading into this game all along? "No," Kelly said. "That wasn't the plan." But if you ask Hendrix, the plan hasn't involved Crist lately. "Dayne will sometimes listen and help with play calling and what not — help diagnose the game because Dayne's knowledge of the game is obviously far greater than mine," Hendrix said when asked who was receiving the majority of second-team reps in practice. "I'll be sprinkled in with my pack- age, where as Dayne wouldn't be. Dayne and I split reps occasionally, but generally it's just my package. "My package is always ready, and I'm always standing behind Coach Kelly [during games]." So, Hendrix actually was the No. 2 quarterback, but Kelly for some rea- son won't acknowledge as much. Just like he refuses to shed any light on why Crist fell out of favor. But who will start in the bowl game? "Anything's possible," Kelly said. Two seasons into the Kelly era, that's now what Irish fans expected to hear. And both the results on the field and the explanations off it aren't good enough. ✦ Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at wmorgan@blueandgold.com Sophomore signal-caller Tommy Rees has been the starter for the Irish since the second game of the season against Michigan, but it's unclear who will get the nod for the bowl game. PHOTO BY AARON SUOZZI