Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON? Point ✦ Counterpoint: Ball Security fense that is still breaking in a number of new faces. That kind of attention to detail will only further benefit the Irish down the stretch, which includes tough trips to Oklahoma and USC. As of now, Notre Dame has only one turnover away from South Bend — Golson's pick against Navy in Ireland. ing spring practices and in fall camp this year for Notre Dame, which has turned the ball over just four times through five games this season. Com- bined with 13 takeaways, the Irish are tied for eighth in the country with a plus- 1.80 turnover margin, with all four coming from rookie quarterback Everett Golson (three interceptions and one fumble) who is still learning on the job. Only Purdue was able to capitalize on an Irish turnover, scoring a touch- down after Golson's fumble. It has been a remarkable turnaround for an of- to go out and actually make it happen on the field, especially after Notre Dame finished the 2011 season with 29 turnovers — a number that placed the Fighting Irish 118th nationally in turnover mar- gin (-1.15 per game). Ev- ery football coach pounds it into his players' heads that there's an exponen- tially better chance of win- ning games if the offense doesn't hand out freebies. Something clicked dur- It's one thing to preach ball security. It's another By Wes Morgan Rees' Redemption Tommy Rees' last snap in a Notre Dame uniform was behind him. The embattled junior quarterback had just been arrested for underage drinking after apparently watching his starting job slip away in spring practice. Not only has Rees played It seemed like a fairly safe bet on May 3 that By Dan Murphy Not much was expected of junior quarter- back Tommy Rees entering the season, but he has already helped the Irish win a pair of close games coming off the bench. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA job is just as surprising. Rees didn't sniff an intercep- tion in his most extended playing time against the Wolverines, and completed 8 of 11 passes for 115 yards. And if that's not enough, the quarterback formerly accused of wearing cement boots added a rushing score on a designed draw play for the game's only touchdown. Rees might make an appearance in every game left on the schedule. He might never play again. Either way, his impact on the 2012 season has already been more than most could have guessed at the start of fall camp. this fall, but he played ar- guably one of the most important roles in Notre Dame's first five wins of the season. He spearheaded the Irish offense in its two most competitive games to date, a low-scoring game against Michigan and a three-point win over Pur- due. Even those that didn't jeer his first appearance on a game-winning drive against Purdue must have been shocked to see him strap up his helmet and take the field. The way he's done the