Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly said today that Senior Dayne Crist will be the starting quarterback in the season opener versus South Florida September 3rd.
Tommy Rees was the other starting candidate,and Kelly said the difference between the two QBs was very small. Last year, Crist started 9 games before a knee injury sidelined him for the season. ND went 4-5 in his starts as he completed 59% of his passes, threw for 2,033 yards and 15 TDs.
“I expect him to start all 13 weeks,” Kelly said Tuesday.
“I think the biggest thing is if we pick the right guy and our team performs as we expect it to then we won’t have to yank that guy at the first moment of controversy,” Offensive Coordinator Charley Molnar said at media day about a week in advance of the decision.
But it doesn’t mean that the decision is set in stone for the entire year.
“The battle could continue as we go through the season; the point is there’s two potentially really good football players at that position, and if the right guy is picked, there would be no reason to hook that guy prematurely,” Molnar continued.
Rees went 4-0 as a starter in Crist’s absence including victories over USC at the Coliseum and Miami in the Sun Bowl. He completed 61% of his throws for 1,106 yards, 12 TDs with a quarterback rating was 132.7.
Despite the much publicized battle to be QB1, Crist and Rees remain good friends off the field.
“I’ve said this multiple times, he’s like a little brother to me and he sees me as an older brother, we spend so much time together that we’ve developed a chemistry and built a relationship that will last for our years beyond football. We understand it’s about making the team better and pushing each other and making the team better,” Crist said at Media Day.
Molnar talked about where Dayne has improved the most after another year in the system.
“His decision making has improved. Dayne’s not forcing the ball into the defense.”
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