Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE a great one. Rees worked tirelessly through the summer with fellow quarterbacks Ev- erett Golson and Andrew Hendrix to make his understudies better on the field, and then added hours of volun- teer work with them in the video room to help develop their cerebral side of the position. Spending more than three months grooming your teammates to take your starting job? Seems strange, but that's the role Rees embraced and his teammates respected. Golson and Rees actually roomed together during train- ing camp. "You know you've got a good team- mate when someone else has taken your job and you're helping him be the best quarterback," said senior tight end Tyler Eifert. Rees has obviously become much more than a mentor for the Irish this season. He's the icy-cold moneyman when head coach Brian Kelly feels the "been there, done that" dynamic with Rees in the game fits a specific situa- tion better than Golson's "higher risk, higher reward" profile. Golson brings a diverse skill set, yet he remains an accident waiting to happen in tough spots so early in his career. Rees relies on brains over brawn and skillfully applies his "men- tal reps" from practice to critical game situations. Statistically speaking, nothing sured beyond raw numbers. Against Purdue, Rees came in unex- pectedly — and under a downpour of unsettling boos from the home fans — to lead a 12-play offensive clinic that ended in a game-winning field goal and a 20-17 Irish victory. Two weeks later when Golson was ineffective against Michigan, Rees ef- ficiently delivered in relief again, rush- ing for a touchdown and leading a key field goal drive in a 13-6 win. And more recently against Stanford, Rees stepped in after an injury to Gol- son and led Notre Dame back in the first game it trailed in this season, fin- ishing a field goal drive that tied the game at 13-13 with just 20 seconds left, before throwing a touchdown pass on his first possession in overtime to help secure the 20-13 win. Given the steadiness Rees provides jumped out for Rees during the first six games of the season — 218 passing yards, one touchdown throw and one rushing score are not exactly Heisman- esque. But clearly Rees is best mea- on game days so far this season, this backup quarterback makes a good case for team MVP, despite a diminished on-field role from last year. Rees would love to be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame, and he'll push himself every day to earn that privilege. But in the meantime, the man who was the brunt of every joke and punch line the entire summer will continue to put team first, and unwit- tingly serve as the perfect case study in how to overcome adversity … and win a bunch of games while he is at it. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com