Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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starter Dayne Crist in 2010, Rees, who ranks eighth all time in school history in passing yards (3,977) and first in completion percentage (64.2) after 16 career starts, sawed the legs off of his own pedestal by tossing 14 intercep- tions and fumbling five times in 2011 after taking over for 30-minute starter Dayne Crist in the season opener. Though many ND supporters were sible that Rees not being available for the first game, and as a result not getting many reps in fall camp, only complicates things. Notre Dame will have a new starter on Sept. 1; that much is clear. But Kelly will have concluded fall camp not knowing for sure whether or not Hen- drix or Golson really beat Rees out or simply benefitted from his offseason I'VE MOVED PAST AND GOTTEN OVER. THE KIND OF LACK OF JUDGMENT IS SOMETHING THAT I DON'T FIND INDICATIVE OF MY CHARACTER. I'M JUST TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD, WHICH I HAVE." REES "I'VE THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT THE INCIDENT AND IT'S SOMETHING hoping to see a change at QB before the Champs Sports Bowl against Flor- ida State, Rees' experience combined with a better understanding of Kelly's offense was just enough to maintain starting status and head into 2012 with a slight edge. That all changed in May. "Clearly, we'll have a new quar- terback that will start against Navy," head coach Brian Kelly said early in camp. "We certainly feel as if we have capable players that can come in and step in at that position and help our football team win." Entering this spring, Hendrix had snafu. For a program hoping to avoid another quarterback controversy like the Crist-Rees saga last year, the best possible outcome would have been a winner-take-all fall, with that guy lead- ing the way the entire season. Now, without complete certainty, what hap- pens if Hendrix or Golson — or both — don't perform up to Kelly's standards? "I think that's one of his things; he kind of knows, like I keep going back to, you can't really show that you're really down or that you're too high. You've got to stay at that median. I think that's what he did this whole time, which was just kind of stay lev- elheaded. "When [the suspension] came out, and a stadium full of eye-rolling ticket holders. What no Irish player disputes is how Rees has handled his time in purgatory. "Tommy was good," Golson said. Enter Rees, with the controversy it came out. He was still the same Tommy, being that helping hand for us and stuff." Added Hendrix: "I never stop ask- ing him questions. He's been such a positive influence [on all the QBs]. There's nobody that knows this of- fense better than Tommy. The man knows his stuff. Any time I was curi- ous about a read or it's debatable, I just go to that guy." ✦ 249 passing yards and a touchdown to his credit after five appearances in 2011. He added 195 yards and a score on the ground on 25 carries. The only blemishes of his reserve perfor- mance were two interceptions. Gol- son dazzled in the Blue-Gold Game in April, when he completed 11 of 15 pass attempts (including two for touchdowns) and added 25 rushing yards. But Kelly admitted after the scrimmage Golson's game-manage- ment skills weren't yet up to snuff. Fall camp was set up for a very fair pened and everything," he said. "I accept re- sponsibility for my actions and everything that went on. The consequences … I'll live by it and move on. I can't let this hurt my whole season, so I'm not going to let it. "Right now it's camp, and I'm working real a chair on Aug. 11 answering questions about his May 3 arrest for police intimidation for the first time since the incident, his voice barely louder than a whisper and his eyes filled with regret and embarrassment. "I learned a lot from this and from what hap- hard during it and grinding every day. I'm work- ing very hard. That's all I can do right now, just keep grinding, grinding through everything. I'm looking forward to the season starting." The season will start without the 6-1, evaluation process prior to Rees' ar- rest. Kelly knew what he had with the non-mobile Rees, who, perhaps over the protest of fans, would have an op- portunity to show he's capable of tak- ing care of the football. Hendrix and Golson, clearly more suited to run a spread offense because of their ability to run, would have a chance to prove they could do it better than Rees. Because of Rees' suspension, how- Contrite Carlo Calabrese Noticeably Humbled Senior inside linebacker Carlo Calabrese sat in 245-pounder, who has played a vital role for the Irish second line since he first stepped on the field in 2010. Calabrese, like teammate Tommy Rees, won't make the trip to Dublin, Ireland, to take on Navy on Sept. 1, which means he won't be able to help Notre Dame slow down an unre- lenting triple-option offense that has given the Irish defense trouble in the past. Though senior Dan Fox started all 13 games in 2011, it was a tag-team effort with Calabrese, who started eight games in 2010. Calabrese registered 37 tackles last fall to go with Fox's 48. The combination of the two complemented fellow inside linebacker Manti Te'o well. Now Calabrese will have to wait until Purdue visits South Bend on Sept. 8 to contribute, which has ever, that's not how it played out. Many Fighting Irish supporters in fa- vor of a quarterback change viewed the situation as divine intervention, and believe that's the way Kelly likely felt behind closed doors. It's also pos- www.BLUEANDGOLD.com opened the door for inexperienced players to get in some extra work during fall camp. Mike linebackers Kendall Moore (junior) and Jarrett Grace (sophomore), along with walk-on sophomore Joe Schmidt, have all rotated in behind Fox in preparation for the Midshipmen. "It's been tough, but the team's great, they're great people to lean on," Calabrese said. "Not just on the defensive side, not just at my position. I can lean on anybody on the offensive side, too. They've been helping me through this. We're all tight, that's helping me out." — Wes Morgan PRESEASON 2012 23 Calabrese registered 37 tackles last fall, but he will not make the trip to Dublin for the season opener. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA