With No. 5 Notre Dame preparing to take on BYU in a few hours, let’s empty the notebook and discuss a few last minute thoughts and questions I still have.
At this point, I’d be shocked if Tommy Rees doesn’t start. I’m not calling my shot, but I expect No. 11 to be behind center when the game starts. It’s as much because of Everett Golson’s concussion as it is BYU’s defense and Oklahoma around the corner. Does that mean he’ll play the entire game? Who knows. But I do think it’s time, especially with the Irish in rarefied air right now, to figure out how to use the team’s most effective quarterback each week, instead of just saving him for high-pressure, high-leverage situations.
While I just missed ESPN’s segment on Rees, Notre Dame’s “closer,” I’ve taken a lot of heat for supporting Rees as a quarterback. Do I think he’s the most talented QB on this roster? No. Do I think he’s got the highest ceiling of the quarterbacks on this roster? No. But is he the best guy Brian Kelly has right now? Absolutely. And I don’t think it’s all that close.
Bronco Mendenhall’s 3-4 defense is predicated on confusion, pressure, and making it tough on offenses. While they haven’t played the best competition, they have put up strong statistics, they’re stingy with first downs, and while they don’t force a ton of turnovers, they get after the quarterback.
I heard countless times that a mobile quarterback is the best thing against a blitzing team. Far from true. A quarterback that can process and make quick decisions and beat the blitz with quick throws can keep the Cougars off balance. Golson has already taken ten sacks this year, and really struggled pulling the trigger against Stanford.
Don’t expect the offensive fireworks to start early and often with Rees. Notre Dame will still do its fair share of punting. But with Golson slow to recover from a concussion and not get as much time with the game plan as Tommy, it only makes sense that the offense would lean on Rees to get through this weekend.
Even in success, recruiting is a roller coaster ride. You’d think the opportunity to wear No. 5 after Manti Te’o, and the opportunity to play in a defense that should be even better next year would be enough for a linebacking prospect. But Pennsylvania native Alex Anzalone, a four-star prospect and one of the top 100 players in the country, is struggling to keep his commitment to Notre Dame.
Per multiple reports, Anzalone cancelled his visit to South Bend this weekend, with his Wyomissing high school schedule making things logistically challenging with Saturday games. But his recent trip to Florida, where he has family and his father graduated from college, has complicated things for Anzalone.
The recruiting process hasn’t been easy for Anzalone. He made an early commitment to Ohio State and Urban Meyer in the spring. He flipped that commitment to Notre Dame after picking the Irish over his childhood favorite Gators. But Anzalone’s trip to Gainesville with his family last weekend, and the resurgent season under Will Muschamp has got him thinking, and it’s anybody’s guess what happens from here.
Notre Dame has back-up plans, with Stanford commit Isaac Savaiinaea, a rugged Hawaiian linebacker from Manti Te’o’s Punahou high school, taking an official visit to South Bend and enjoying himself. The Irish coaching staff won’t stop recruiting either player, and will have the ability to take Savaiinaea because Anzalone is early enrolling at the college of his choice.
It’s not all bad news for the Irish, with their No. 1 remaining offensive target visiting South Bend this weekend in Florida’s Tarean Folston. Folston is one of the few offensive recruits whose commitment Notre Dame would take right now, and getting him to campus was an important first step.
Will the Irish do a better job blocking off the edge? It wasn’t a banner Saturday for the Irish, as Stanford’s edge pressure created havoc all game with Chase Thomas and Trent Murphy impacting the game. Murphy had 10 tackles against Notre Dame and 1.5 sacks. Enter another dangerous edge player this weekend in BYU’s Kyle Van Noy, who already has 11.5 tackles-for-loss and 7.5 sacks. It’ll be up to Van Noy to get after the quarterback and make plays in the backfield, like he’s done all season.
Can the Irish offensive line dominate the line of scrimmage? I’d bet you that Harry Hiestand thinks they can. While the Cougars defense has been stout, they’re also undersized. A week after the Irish actually did a nice job running against a Stanford front that not many teams have run on, there’s every reason to think that the Irish should be able to succeed on the ground, especially if the weather plays a factor for the second consecutive week.
Looking for one blueprint to beat Bronco Mendenhall’s BYU team? Take a walk down memory lane. Back in 2005, a 4-2 Notre Dame team took on the Cougars in Notre Dame Stadium and faced a blitzing, attacking BYU defense. It was far from one of Mendenhall’s better teams, but Charlie Weis and the Irish put together a staggering offensive performance, throwing for 467 yards and gaining 27 first downs on the way to a 49-23 win.
Brady Quinn threw six touchdown passes on the afternoon, and while the Irish only ran for 64 yards on 23 carries, Weis, in vintage form, didn’t seem to mind.
“If they want to bring seven or eight on every play, we’ll throw it on every play,” Weis told NBC’s Lewis Johnson at halftime.
This Irish team doesn’t have the playmakers that the ’05 team had, and doesn’t have Brady Quinn, but it’s a good reminder on how to beat pressure with a quick passing game.