Understanding Kelly

I guess it wouldn’t be a Notre Dame game day without Brian Kelly making a decision that leaves me scratching my head.  This week’s head scratching moment happened before the game even started.  I thought for a moment that I knew what he was doing, why he was doing it and how he was going to do it.  The reports out of practice during the week were positive for Rees but also spoke about Hendrix getting 40% of the reps.  So when I heard Rees was getting the start, I felt it was more about getting Hendrix into the game in a backup role, as that made more sense than having Hendrix come in behind Golson.  I figured against BYU, the Irish would go up by two or three scores in the fourth quarter and get Hendrix in the game.  Why, you ask?  This type of move would have accomplished a couple of things heading into a major showdown in Norman, Oklahoma against the Sooners.  First, it gives Golson an extra week to fully recover from his concussion.  Second, it gives Hendrix important game reps which, in addition to giving the junior quarterback confidence and more game experience, also makes Oklahoma have to prepare for the real possibility of the Irish playing three different quarterbacks with three different skill sets running three different styles of offense.  Hendrix did see the field, but it was earlier than I thought, and for a lot less snaps than I thought, although he did look good in his very limited appearance.   Of course, in the process of all this, Kelly needed to come out of this game with a win.

As we have said many times before and most likely will in the future, it does not matter how much you win by; at the end of the day, a win is a win.  Coming to South Bend, BYU was probably better than their 4-3 record but they were in no way a national power.  A three point win does not instill a lot of confidence heading to Norman, but it does send them there undefeated.