Saturday's game featuring Oklahoma and Notre Dame was a big one for both teams. One team would set itself up for a BCS run and the other would be relegated to hoping to get a second tier bowl. Unfortunately for Irish fans, Oklahoma played a great game. Of course Notre Dame didn't help by spotting them 14 points in the first minute off two interceptions. Those 14 points proved to be the difference.
Of course it is easy to blame Tommy Rees for throwing 3 interceptions while completing less than 50% of his passes and barely cracking 100 yards. However, at the end of the day they did score 21 points and the defense did give up 28. So just blaming one player is really not the answer.
Everett Golson threw picks last year but the defense still went out and turned the other team away. Rees has not been so fortunate and this defense has given him no support.
Having said that, this is two straight weeks of poor performances by Rees after opening the year with strong performances in 3 straight games. While Rees haters are very vocal about pulling him, the reality is that there really is not another option. Andrew Hendrix is nothing more than a package guy. He does not throw well enough to be the starter. I think the coaches and I agree would prefer not to waste a year of eligibility on Malik Zaire. He needs to be prepared to compete with Golson for the starting job and will likely back him up for two years before taking over.
So Rees is our guy this year. He is holding it for Golson, but he is the guy this year. We do need to start seeing more of these young freshmen though. Since BCS is likely out, we might as well play the youth.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma appears to be the class of the Big 12. Their win over the Irish puts them in prime position as they prepare for their conference play. I wish them well. I would like to see them win it.
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