Brian Kelly delivered a pretty accurate assessment of his team after the Blue-Gold game Saturday, and the statement rings particularly true for his quarterbacks.
"We've got enough players to compete, but we've got to go a long way."
Saturday's public scrimmage gave us plenty of reasons to be excited, but enough reasons to be worried as well.
Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix each led impressive scoring drives...but both also threw head scratching interceptions.
To quote Kelly, "We've seen this movie before."
Yes we have, and it's not a happy ending.
Everett Golson may have been the most electrifying of the bunch. He made plays with his arm...and his legs. He also made so many mistakes, Brian Kelly compared him to a heart attack. Exciting...but not the way you want.
The key for all three, as Kelly says, is attention to detail. And I think Kelly's attention is the key to making this happen. Kelly delivered one of his best coaching jobs at Notre Dame with Jonas Gray. Gray's fumble to open the South Florida game sent the Irish into a tailspin that spoiled the season opener. But it didn't spoil Gray's season. Despite having a history of fumbling, Brian Kelly got Gray past the mistake...and he went on to be one of the best players on the team last year.
Now Kelly has a few other potentially electrifying players. And how they mature will go a long way towards the success of 2012. Think of this: Three of Notre Dame's five losses last year came by four points or less. Fixing a few little things could pay big dividends.
It's Kelly's job to push the right buttons. If he does, the decision will be easy.
