ND’s Everett Golson sits; will start next week
By Mark Lazerus 648-3140 or mlazerus@post-trib.com October 20, 2012 11:42PM
Updated: November 22, 2012 6:56AM
SOUTH BEND — Brian Kelly said his starting quarterback would be a game-time decision, but backup Tommy Rees found out he was starting a day earlier. Kelly said he simply wasn’t convinced Everett Golson (concussion) was ready after returning to practice on Wednesday.
But Golson will start next Saturday at Oklahoma, Kelly said.
“I just felt like this was the best thing to do,” Kelly said. “He was supportive, he was great on the sideline. But he clearly wanted to get in there, as well. We feel like we’ve got a kid now that’s 100 percent ready to go for Oklahoma.”
Rees didn’t do much to ignite a quarterback controversy. After a strong first quarter in which he went 6-of-7 for 86 yards and a touchdown — finding tight end Tyler Eifert four times for 73 yards and the score — he completed just one pass the rest of the way, finishing 6-of-16 for 117 yards, the touchdown, and an interception that hit receiver DaVaris Daniels right in the hands.
“I’ll let others assess (my performance),” Rees said. “I played well enough to get a win, but I didn’t play well enough to get the offense going.”
Andrew Hendrix threw one short pass and ran for a 14-yard gain.
The defense rests: Notre Dame’s defense went 17 quarters without allowing a touchdown.
It’s next streak lasted barely two minutes. BYU quarterback Riley Nelson found wide-open Cody Hoffman for a 6-yard TD in the second quarter. It was the first TD the Irish had allowed since the fourth quarter against Purdue on Sept. 8. But after Rees was intercepted three snaps later at the ND 30, BYU quickly put it back in the end zone, taking a 14-7 lead on a 2-yard TD pass from Nelson to Kaneakua Friel.
“Honestly, the media’s made a big thing about the touchdown streak,” DE Kapron Lewis-Moore said. “It’s cool, but at the end of the day, we got the win.”
