Well, all Notre Dame fans can do this time is throw their hands in the air and ask why they have to deal with this again. After a summer spent debating which Quarterback was the right one to lead Brian Kelly's offense in its second year here with the Irish, we're right back where we started. Its round one of an inevitable 2 year(and one game) battle between incumbent Sophomore QB Tommy Rees, recruited by Charlie Weis and of a pro-style mold, and Redshirt freshman QB Andrew Hendrix, recruited by BK and of a spread offense mold.
It was just a little over a year ago that Junior Dayne Crist went down vs. Tulsa, tearing his left patella tendon and leaving Notre Dame with a wide-eyed freshman at QB. However, aided by a defense that played above expectation, that same wide-eyed freshman finished the season with a four game winning streak. The Irish rolled through wins against a ranked Utah team, Army, and capped the regular season with its first win versus USC since 2001, doing it at the LA Memorial Coliseum, to boot. Rees then lead the Irish to a beat-down of Miami in the Sun Bowl, sending us into their current season with high hopes.
BK played his cards well over the summer, letting Rees and the recovered Crist duke it out for the starting job, before naming Crist the starter shortly before the opener vs. USF. True to form, the ever volatile Kelly changed his mind at halftime, and Rees has enjoyed a solid season. He almost led the Irish back vs. USF, was one defensive play away from a win at Michigan, and his play silenced the Crist supporters. Aside from a few relief appearances and the debacle of a drive at USC when Rees went down, Crist faded to the background and Rees took the reins. Crist will likely transfer next year to a school where he will be eligible to play his 5th year (he redshirted as a freshman) immediately, due to the NCAA rule that this is allowed if the player is graduated and enrolls in a graduate program not offered by his former school. Crist is as good as gone.
And this brings us to the current situation. As Rees continued to play well, Hendrix began getting in as a change of pace QB, running a more true BK offense, with more zone reads and option plays. Hendrix’s package is comparable to Tim Tebow’s plays from his freshman year at Florida. He debuted vs. Air Force, and has been relatively successful in his limited attempts. When Rees went down vs. Stanford, Hendrix was in. When Rees was unable to continue after giving it a go/pulled by BK (depending on what you believe. He didn’t look too happy on the sidelines to me), Hendrix was the man. He showed his inexperience, as many throws were high and he often did not set his feet. Regardless, it allowed BK to do something he has yet to be able to do at ND; run the true spread offense. Hendrix reminded me of Cincinnati Bearcat QB Zach Collaros, a Kelly recruit at Cincinnati who took played for Kelly as a freshman and sophomore when Tony Pike was injured, a sentiment also shared by Kirk Herbstreit. Both are strong runners who also have the arm to make all the throws, even if they are not quite as accurate as some. With Hendrix at the helm, the Irish had two scoring drives, although one was in garbage time. Hendrix was able to move the ball, something Rees was not successful in doing. The young QB looked good, and looked like the kind of player who could be a very good player in BK's offense long term.
However, one cannot discount Tommy Rees. He may not be able to run like Hendrix, and Hendrix may have the bigger arm, but Tommy Rees just wins. I think an excellent comparison for Rees is a young Tom Brady. Brady circa 2001 was not a big play QB. He wasn't throwing for 5,000 yards and 50 TDs (he was posing with goats in Stetson ads without a shirt on. Sorry it was too easy.). The offense was more run based with Antowain Smith (2001- 1,157 yards and 12 TDs), as it is with the Irish, even without Jonas Gray. There was a strong defense for each team, keeping it in games when the offense was lackluster. The passing game was based around easy throws to sure-handed targets, such as Troy Brown, and David Patten for Brady, and Tyler Eifert, and Michael Floyd for Rees. But when the game was on the line, (Brady; 2001 Super Bowl. Rees; Pitt game, Wake game, should have been the Michigan game if the defense hadn't collapsed in the 4th for Rees) Tommy Rees and Tom Brady came through and delivered.
Is Tommy Rees perfect? No. Am I saying that Rees is the next coming of Tom Brady? Absolutely not. He has had turnover issues, throwing an average of a pick a game. The long ball is not his strength, especially when Floyd isn't there to bail him out with an amazing jump ball catch. But Rees is strong in the short to intermediate passing game, especially when the Irish running game is rolling. And when the game is on the line, Rees comes through.
The last three quarterbacks to start as a freshman and sophomore are Brady Quinn, Jimmy Clausen, and Tommy Rees. As a freshman and sophomore, Quinn was 10-11 as a starter. Clausen was 10-12.
Tommy Rees is 12-3.
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