"It's A Wrap? Quarterback"- Spring Review

Tim Prister
IrishIllustrated.com Senior Editor

Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees have some experience, a grasp of the system and the confidence to lead those around them, which puts them at the top of the depth chart heading into the summer.

Crist was just 4-5 as a starter, but he got very little help from the defense against Michigan, Michigan State and Stanford when it allowed 471 yards per game while the Irish rushing attack accounted for just 96.6 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry. His worst game coincided with the defense's, which allowed 367 yards rushing to Navy. Crist completed a respectable 59.2 percent of his passes for 2,033 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions in nine games.

Rees improved his game during his three regular-season starts - taking a temporary step backwards against USC when he was picked off three times and fumbled inside his own 10. But he led the Irish to a comeback victory over the Trojans and took a huge leap forward in the Sun Bowl when he completed 15-of-29 for 201 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Rees threw 12 touchdown passes and was intercepted eight times on the season while completing 61.0 percent of his passes.

IRISHILLUSTRATED.COM SPRING REVIEW QB

Irish's Wood Running More Than Mouth

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame hasn't had a 1,000-yard rusher since Darius Walker did it in 2006. That history doesn't faze Cierre Wood.

"I'm trying to get 2,000 if I can," he says.

Wood has never lacked for confidence. But now he's got the game to go with the talk. And that could lead to big things for the Irish running game this season.

Last year, he was forced into a starting role in midseason after Armando Allen got hurt. Wood, a junior in class who did not play as a freshman, averaged over 82 yards per game and nearly 5.5 yards per carry in Notre Dame's final four games. Not coincidentally, the Irish won all four.

ESPN.COM LINK : CIERRE WOOD

Irish Great Jim Seymour Passes Away

Former Notre Dame All-American and record setting wide receiver Jim Seymour passed away yesterday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 64.
Seymour teamed with quarterback Terry Hanratty to form one of the best quarterback-wide receiver tandems in Irish history, as the two classmates were deemed “Mr. Fling and Mr. Cling,” and memorialized on the cover of TIME magazine.

NBC SPORTS LINK: IRISH GREAT PASSES AWAY

Ed Warriner Promoted To Run Game Coordinator Position

There seems to be no downside to Brian Kelly’s promotion of Notre Dame offensive line coach Ed Warinner to run game coordinator.

Warinner is happy, “I appreciated that,” he said.

So is offensive coordinator Charley Molnar. “There’s certain nuances of the run game or in the blocking schemes, I don’t need to sit in those meetings,” Molnar said.

And so is Kelly. “That's going to help us in the recruiting, evaluation, all of those things, and as you know Ed was a coordinator at Kansas and did a great job.”

IRISH SPORTS DAILY LINK: ED WARRINER PROMOTED TO RUN GAME COORDINATOR