Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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can consider them. I want to see Everett for 48 hours. I don't think there's a cookie-cutter approach to concussions. You want to see how they handle exertion." Kelly said his decision to go with Rees instead of Golson was strictly based on health and not on Rees' ability to finish games while the rookie struggled. Gol- son's fumbling prob- lems aside, Kelly said he was happy with the way Notre Dame's apparent quarterback of the future was developing in his first six games. Golson's last four pass attempts before the concussion were his best four of the Stanford game. He com- pleted all of them for a total of 76 yards, includ- ing a perfectly placed 24- yard flag route to senior tight end Tyler Eifert for a game-tying touch- down. "The ball was put in a position where the defensive back had no chance of what we call raking through the bas- ket," Kelly said. "That's something that he's worked hard at devel- oping. He would've not made that throw in week one or week two. He would've thrown a line-drive, level-one ball that would have either been deflected by the corner who was sinking, or Tyler would not have gotten his hands on it." After taking a week to clear his head, Golson likely will be back as the team's starter against Oklahoma in Norman next weekend. down as the clock ticked away in the fourth quar- ter, Notre Dame needed a five-yard carry to keep the BYU offense off the field. The Irish staff called on senior Theo Riddick, who at 5-11, 200 pounds is filling the role of this team's power back. He delivered with a leg-churning, pile- moving six-yard gain. "He has run really RUMBLIN' RIDDICK On a crucial third the fall hoping its three fully capable running backs would function as interchangeable parts and hybrid players in the next evolution of Kelly's offense. Seven games into the season, all three seem to be set- tling into more defined roles, and the Irish rush- ing attack is excelling be- cause of it. Riddick has clearly Notre Dame started hard and physical for us," head coach Brian Kelly said. "Last year, we had Jonas Gray who was that physical back. I'm not comparing him to Jonas, because he's half his size. But running up between the tackles … it gives an energy to the entire team when you see backs running that physical." become the go-to guy when Notre Dame needs a player to put his head down and pick up a few hard-earned yards. He ran for a career-high 143 of them against a BYU defense that came into the game as No. 3-rated rushing defense in the country. His ability to keep his legs under- neath him led to a 55- yard run that set up a field goal after it looked certain that he would be tripped up in a pile of linemen after only a short gain. "You can't stop mov- ing your feet," he said. "I did that, and fortunately something opened and I broke it for a big gain." BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhal l singled Riddick out as a player who changed the