2015 Notre Dame Football Preview

2015 Notre Dame Football Preview

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview

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28 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY LOU SOMOGYI A month into his new job at Notre Dame in January 2010, head coach Brian Kelly revealed a critical component to playing quarterback in his offense: He doesn't have to be a premier running threat like Texas' Vince Young (3,127 yards and 37 touchdowns in three years), Florida's Tim Tebow (2,947 yards and 57 touchdowns) or Auburn's Cam Newton (1,423 yards and 20 touchdowns during the 2010 national title season), but it is preferred that he is at least a capable enough threat with his legs to alarm opposing defenses. "He's going to run the ball," Kelly said of the plan for his quarterbacks. "You can't run the offense if you've got a guy out there who's limited, because I would just empty the box [on defense] and match up everybody and try to find a way to stop the pass game. "He's got to run the ball. That's part of our offense." Unfortunately, throughout most of his ten- ure with the Fighting Irish, Kelly has had quarterbacks who were limited when it came to running the football. • In 2010, he had Dayne Crist, who was coming off ACL surgery, and freshman Tommy Rees, who had limited mobility. Crist's four rushing touchdowns led the team that year before he tore his ACL again. He finished with 74 rushing yards, while replacement Rees had minus-two. LEG WORK Notre Dame might have greater reliance on a dual-threat quarterback in 2015 Malik Zaire's 96 rushing yards against LSU set a bowl record for a Notre Dame quarterback. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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