Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Eight-man drops are a test for young QBs BY LOU SOMOGYI CRAZY EIGHTS D uring the 2008 football season when Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen was a sophomore, former North Carolina head coach Butch Da- vis found a formula to confuse the accurate but still inexperienced sig- nal-caller in the second half of the Tar Heels' 29-24 victory: Drop eight men into coverage on passing downs. It was the template for other teams to follow during a 1-4 regular-season finish for Notre Dame in the last five games. Clausen tossed 17 interceptions that season before a dramatic improve- ment in his junior year (28 touchdowns and just four interceptions). Boston College used a similar for- mula on sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees, especially with Rees not presenting a threat as a runner. "It's pretty clear as to how you're going to defend Tommy in those third-down situations," Irish head coach Brian Kelly admitted. "It's incumbent upon us as coaches and When defenses drop into eight- or nine-man WORKING WITHIN LIMITS coverages in passing situations, a potential answer is a quarterback finding running lanes. However, when asked if sophomore quarter- back Tommy Rees has the green light to run, head coach Brian Kelly paused for a bit. Tucking the ball and running is about as much in the playbook for Rees as an option offense. "We would like to give him the green light," Kelly said of Rees running the ball. "I don't know how to answer that question. Tommy is going to give you whatever he's got. He's a competitive kid. You know how I feel about him. "But Tommy also knows his strengths and weaknesses. He's got a lot of strengths, and he knows what his weaknesses are." — Lou Somogyi 8 DECEMBER 2011 Sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees and the Irish coaching staff are searching for an answer to oppo- nents dropping eight men into coverage in third-down situations. PHOTO BY AARON SUOZZI Tommy as the quarterback to answer those questions. "His strength is the ball comes out of his hands very quickly. It's very difficult to bring pressure on him be- cause he just gets it out so quickly." To see eight or nine in coverage can confuse even the craftiest of veterans. "So it's our job as coaches to try to identify some individual matchups that we can create that he can get the ball to," Kelly said. "The other thing is to stay out of the third-and-long situations. Tommy's got to take that next step now, and that is eight- and nine-man drops. How are you go- ing to find a way to keep the chains moving?" According to Rees, the most impor- tant element is getting a good pre- snap picture of the defense, which is one of his strengths that have made him the starting quarterback. "If you understand what their drop eight looks like and what their coverages are looking like before the play, you can understand what zones to attack," Rees said. "It just comes with preparation and game adjustment." BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED