Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 15, 2012 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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terested to see how the quarterback situation shakes out as everyone else. "If you had a crystal ball and could tell me, that would be awe- some," Martin said dur- ing the bye week, his first media appearance since fall camp. "We're all just trying to figure out a way to beat Miami. To plan for the future, or try to figure out how it's going to shake out … you've got an interest- ing situation. You've got four good quarterbacks. "Obviously one quar- terback plays at a time. To me, I wouldn't have predicted that the first four games would go this way. We played two different quarterbacks in every game. The first game made sense [with junior Andrew Hendrix] because the game was lopsided. The other three games, two quarterbacks played and we're 4-0. "We're doing what- ever we can to try to win the game. We'll figure out what's going to hap- pen against Miami. We'll see what happens after Miami and we'll move forward from there." Unlike against Pur- due, when Golson was replaced by former starter Tommy Rees, a junior, on the team's final drive, resulting in a 55-yard march and a game-winning 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining, Gol- son's quick exit against Michigan had nothing to do with a lack of game management experience in a tight game. Golson completed just 3 of 8 passes for 30 yards with two interceptions and was benched for Rees at the 6:10 mark in the second quarter with the Irish clinging to a 3-0 lead. "That was different," Martin said. "[Golson's] had some hot and cold moments. He doesn't really have an expla- nation and we haven't dwelled on it. I did ask him, like: 'Hey, you were off, you knew you were off, Coach [Kelly] knew you were off.' Was it Saturday night [versus] Michigan? Was it a cou- ple midterms? I'm not a psychologist. It's just part of life. You learn from it and you move forward. He knows he wasn't locked in like he should have been locked in, and he knows he can't let that happen again. I'm pretty confi- dent he won't." Rees finished 8-of-11 passing for 115 yards and added a rushing touchdown. Rees' abil- ity to identify defenses quickly and make checks at the line have been of significant value in late- game circumstances. "His experience cer- tainly helps in the man- agement of our offense," Martin said. "He's got a lot of experience un- der his belt and a lot of calmness. That is a fac- tor anytime he comes in. Even the two-minute drive against Purdue, did we not feel comfort- able with Everett going out and throwing the ball? No. It more had to do with just the manage- ment of the drive than the skill set. "We felt good about both of them throwing the ball. That's certainly something a more expe- rienced guy brings to the table. You've got expe- rience, you've played, you've got talent, you've seen it before 100 times, so you don't flinch. Ev- erett's at the point where he's understanding it, he's seeing it, but he still flinches sometimes." Fans' expectations of

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