Tommy Rees has been clutch in his role as the Irish backup quarterback this season. On Saturday, he led the Irish on a game-tying drive at the end of regulation and a game-winning drive in overtime. He finished 4-for-4 passing with a touchdown. The once-maligned signal caller is now a big reason why Notre Dame is undefeated and off to its best start since 2002.
A look at the game-winning touchdown against Stanford
Although Rees' physical limitations are well-documented, his ability to read defenses and make proper checks at the line have improved since last season. Against the Cardinal, he identified and exploited one-on-one match-ups that Everett Golson missed for most of the day. Indeed, his touchdown pass to T.J. Jones is a good example of how he can beat a defense with his intellect rather than his arm. Let's take a look.
On 1st and goal from the 7, the Irish line up with Tyler Eifert, Troy Niklas and Cierre Wood to the boundary, while T.J. Jones and Robby Toma line up to the field side. The Irish have put the strength of the formation to the boundary. Because most defenses are field-strength based, lining up with the offensive strength to the boundary forces the defense to play out of its comfort zone. As a result, the Cardinal shift an inside linebacker to the boundary and roll a safety over to bracket Eifert.
Rees recognizes the potential overload blitz from the boundary and checks his protection to keep Niklas and Wood in to block. Stanford's defensive alignment should allow Jones and Toma to run double slants against single coverage. As Coach Hoover explains, double slants is an excellent route concept against Cover 2 and man coverages.
Stanford plays man coverage against Jones and Toma. Rees' read is from inside out. He should look for Toma first before looking for Jones. Here, the safety has inside leverage on Toma, and Jones has undercut the corner. Meanwhile, Stanford's five-man rush is nuetralized by seven Irish blockers.
Rees makes the proper read but throws the ball behind Jones. Fortunately, the ball is away from the defender, and Jones makes a difficult sliding catch for the score.
Conclusion
While Everett Golson is the future of the Notre Dame offense, Tommy Rees has found his niche as the "closer" while Golson learns on the job. Rees' command of the offense and improved decision making should give Irish fans confidence that he will get the offense into the right plays and find the right match-ups. It will be interesting to see if his role expands as the season progresses or if Golson takes full command of the offense and limits his turnovers.
Go Irish! Beat Cougars!
