Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Fighting Words Fickle Fans Looked Silly By Wes Morgan The week leading up to the Purdue game wasn’t the first time Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly urged the home fans to sit on their hands less and make things as difficult as possible on the visiting team. He wanted Notre Dame Stadium to have less of a reverent vibe and for ticket buyers to contribute to, well, an actual football game atmosphere. Imagine that. It was hard to tell from the confines of the press box whether or not his pleas paid off. It didn’t appear that they did. The crowd seemed as lethargic and reserved as usual, badgering the Boilermakers with about as much noise as a janitor lightly dragging a broom across a library floor. But that wasn’t even the most disappointing part of Notre Dame’s 20‑17 victory over Purdue. The home fans couldn’t even get behind the Irish — or at least one player in particular — when it mattered most. With less than four minutes to play and Notre Dame clinging to a 17‑10 lead, sophomore starting quarterback Everett Golson, who pieced together a solid effort in his second appearance in an Irish uniform, fumbled the ball deep in his own territory. Purdue took over at the Irish 15-yard line and tied the game five plays later. With 2:12 left on the clock, junior Tommy Rees, fresh off a one-game suspension, took the field to try and stage a game-winning drive. Kelly at first explained Golson was dinged up on the fumble, prompting an appearance from Rees. Later, Kelly said he had a conversation with offensive coordinator Chuck Martin and agreed, “It was the right move to make with Tommy coming in.” Regardless, if it was a decision based on an injury or Rees having more experience in crunch time, it was a call the head coach made, and it was one with which even the opposing coach agreed. “I thought that was a really good decision by their head coach,” Boilermakers boss Danny Hope said. “That was a pressure situation and certainly would have been a tough assignment for a rookie quarterback. “I was kind of excited about the idea of maybe having a rookie quarterback in there on the last drive. I thought that may have given us an opportunity to get after him some and get ourselves in position to win. I thought it was a good coaching decision.” A good percentage of those occupying the bleachers didn’t. Rees — a 16-game starter with a 12‑4 record who was nearly deified for winning the final four games of the 2010 season as a freshman, and then bailed on by Irish supporters after an 8-5 season in 2011 — ran out on the field and was greeted by boos. Let me repeat that: Notre Dame had a chance to go down the field and win the game and the quarterback, who needs a clear head, gets booed by his own people. “We’re so focused on the game, calling the game, our fans can do what they want to do,” Kelly said. “Our students were great the other night at the pep rally. I think we had 15,000.” No offense, coach, but who cares about the pep rally? At a time when the home fans have a chance to rally behind a former starting QB, love him or hate him, many showed their true colors the next day. Rees overthrows junior receiver TJ Jones: boos. Rees completes back-to-back passes to senior receiver Robby Toma and fifth-year senior receiver John Goodman: cheers. Another pass falls incomplete: boos. Those reactions alternated until Rees guided the team to the 11-yard line to set up Kyle Brindza’s winning 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining. For whatever reason, Notre Dame opted not to make anyone available for interviews other than senior left tackle Zack Martin and senior linebacker Manti Te’o. Both players, who are team captains, were proud of the way Rees handled the situation. “I don’t agree with that at all,” Martin said of fans’ reactions to his teammate. “A guy like Tommy, it just fuels his fire. He’s been through a lot. I’m so proud of him and so happy for him that he was able to answer the bell today and lead us down the field.” “Tommy always had great confidence in himself,” Te’o added. “Something about our team is that we have confidence in each other. When he went in, I think he knew the rest of his brothers had confidence in what he could do. “It was no surprise to us that he could drive down the field, put us in a situation to win the game.” Kelly skipped a step when he challenged Irish Nation to help the team defend its home turf. He apparently needed to make sure they were all on the same side first. Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at wmorgan@blueandgold.com