Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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44 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY LOU SOMOGYI T he annual Blue-Gold Game each spring has been perhaps the worst barometer to measure a quarterback during head coach Brian Kelly's six seasons. In Kelly's first year back in 2010, walk-on Nate Montana — son of Notre Dame legend Joe — threw for nearly 200 first-half yards and tossed three first-half touchdown passes to three different receivers to help his team defeat five-star starting quar- terback Dayne Crist's squad — yet Montana would fall to third string. In 2011, the standout run-pass threat was Andrew Hendrix, who rushed for 10- and 15-yard touch- downs to lead his team to a 17-14 victory. He never ended up starting. The following year, it was early en- rollee five star Gunner Kiel who at- tempted the most passes in the spring game — only to transfer to Cincin- nati a year later. In 2014, Malik Zaire outshone starter Everett Golson while com- pleting 18 of 27 passes for 292 yards, but the job was going to remain with Golson after sitting out the 2013 season because of academic exile. And last season, sophomore DeShone Kizer looked out of place as not even a worthy No. 3 option, going only 1-of-5 passing and getting sacked. Meanwhile, this spring's Blue-Gold Game — where junior Mont- QUARTERBACKS DUAL-THREAT SITUATION Notre Dame has different roads it can take at signal-caller, but Brian Kelly would prefer to stay in one lane PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★ National Title Contention; ★★★ Major Bowl Contention; ★★ Top 25 Potential; ★ Too Unproven Starter ★★★ Whether it's going to be junior frontrunner DeShone Kizer (11 starts) or senior Malik Zaire (three starts), who flourished in the complete games he started and/or finished in 2014 and 2015, the coaching staff is optimistic that the Fighting Irish can be a College Football Playoff contender with either one at the throttle. Each is a bona fide dual threat with his arm or legs. Experience ★★★ Although they have only career 14 starts between them, Kizer and Zaire displayed enough production and moxie to generate optimism among the Irish coaches. Kizer guided three fourth-quarter comeback wins in 2015 and also steered Notre Dame ahead at Stanford with 30 seconds left. Zaire excelled in bright light settings during starts against brand names such as LSU and Texas. Depth ★★★★ Down the road, sophomore Brandon Wimbush, who might be redshirted this year, could have the highest ceiling. Based on ability and potential, we've opined that this has a chance to be the best trio at QB for the Irish since 1968 with senior Terry Hanratty, sophomore Joe Theismann and senior Bob Belden (who made the Dallas Cowboys roster in 1969 and 1970). Overall Grade ★★★½ For most of the Brian Kelly era, the quarterback position has been in tumult, a state of flux or with a lack of dual threats that are deemed vital to the success of a spread offense. That's not to say everything is "solved" this year, as only time will tell. But it's the strongest and most uniform the position has been, including depth, in some time. QUICK FACTS Position Coach: Mike Sanford (2nd year) Returning Starters: DeShone Kizer (11 career starts) and Malik Zaire (3) Departing Starters: None Projected New Starter: None Waiting His Turn: Brandon Wimbush Newcomer: Ian Book Moved In: None Moved Out: None Other Departures: None FYI: Junior Montgomery VanGorder, son of third-year Notre Dame defensive coordi - nator Brian VanGorder, led the 69-yard game-clinching drive in the Blue-Gold Game; he finished 5-of-7 passing for 50 yards, and added 13 yards on the ground, scoring from two yards out … Athlon Sports 2016 College Football Preview ranks Notre Dame's quarterback unit No. 4 in the country … Lindy's Sports 2016 College Football Preview didn't rate quarterbacks separately, but put them under the "Backfield" umbrella, where it had the Fighting Irish No. 5, behind Clemson, Oklahoma, Baylor and Ten- nessee … The Kizer/Zaire tandem was ranked No. 8 "individually" among QBs in the country (no other team featured a duo) … Phil Steele's 2016 College Football Preview was less sold, ranking Notre Dame's QB group No. 18 overall, with Kizer No. 19 nation- ally and Zaire not among the 39 that were listed in the individual ratings. Kelly has plenty of talented quarterbacks at his disposal, but has noted that it is his preference for one guy to separate himself as the starter. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND