Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Point ✦ Counterpoint: One More Chance WHAT'S THE BIGGEST BENEFIT OF PLAYING IN A BOWL GAME FOR THIS YEAR'S TEAM? By Dan Murphy Putting In Some Extra Work No one should be happier that the Irish drew Florida State on their postseason schedule than head coach Brian Kelly. The Seminoles are just good enough to give this year's team and its coach one more shot at a seminal victory. Notre Dame had three chances to prove it was a BCS-quality team dur- ing the regular season despite its opening day flub against South Florida. But, the Irish fell short against Michigan, USC and Stanford — three teams that would all likely be heading to one of the big-money bowls if not for the Trojans' prior indiscretions. Kelly made it clear that beating that caliber of a team was an attainable goal for his group this season. He was probably right, but Notre Dame didn't perform up to par in any of those games. The Champs Sports Bowl is Kelly's opportunity to prove that in two years he has laid the foundation of a team that can win a big one. "The Big One" at Notre Dame used to be the national championship, a major bowl or a powerhouse USC, Michigan or Florida team. At this point, the team will settle for a win over a talented, national program. The Florida State name carries a lot of football prestige. They aren't the Seminoles of old, but head coach Jimbo Fisher's roster is doused with talent and cur- rently ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls. A victory in Orlando, Fla., would be big enough to silence some of the F9B434_BlueandGoldIllustrated_Q4.qxd:F9B401 10/12/11 10:36 AM Page 1 Kelly detractors that started popping up midway through his second season. As Kelly found out last year, a win in December leads to a more peaceful spring and summer, which is something the coach will treasure when looking ahead at the gauntlet waiting for him in his third year. At least he'll have plenty of chances to win a big one. By Wes Morgan No matter what one thinks of the Dayne Crist situation, its resolution has been long overdue. We've known for some time what was finally an- nounced in early December, that Crist was looking for a way out and an opportunity to finish his career elsewhere. Head coach Brian Kelly said that as a result of granting Crist a release, the quarterback wouldn't have much of a role in the Champs Sports Bowl preparation. That's good, because Kelly has enough to worry about at that position. That it took until the season finale for Kelly to make a bold move by inserting mobile sophomore Andrew Hendrix for extended time in place of starter Tommy Rees was, to me, like swerving after you hit a deer on the highway. There were multiple times this season where Hendrix could have provided a spark when Rees was spinning his wheels. Better late than never, I guess. With Hendrix playing the entire second half against the Cardinal, it was anyone's guess as to who would start against Florida State in Orlando, Fla., Dec. 29. That is until Kelly quashed that controversy immediately by naming Rees the starter. All that means to me is that Rees will start the game. Like all year long, the question remains: Who will finish? The extra practices are invaluable for the simple fact that Kelly has more time before shutting things down to understand exactly what he has at quarterback going into 2012. If Hendrix made such big strides in the final weeks, he'll certainly have a chance to grow even more with the additional practice time a bowl game provides. Suddenly, this has become more about Navy in Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 1, 2012, than the Seminoles in a couple weeks. There's a lot to figure out right now as to the direction of this program come next spring and fall. 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