South Bend, IN – Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly has made a change at quarterback for this Saturday's game at Michigan, naming Tommy Rees as his starter instead of Dayne Crist.
Rees replaced Crist this past Saturday in the 23-20 season-opening loss to South Florida.
"We talked about production. Tommy was very productive in the second half [against South Florida] and he'll get a chance to start against Michigan," Kelly stated Tuesday.
Crist got the starting nod from Kelly after battling Rees through the spring and summer, but struggled against South Florida. He completed just 7-of-15 passes for 95 yards with an interception.
"Any time you take your starting quarterback out, that's not a good situation," Kelly added. "It's a very difficult situation that I felt needed to be addressed."
Rees then threw for 296 yards while connecting on 24-of-34 throws with two touchdowns and two picks.
"Nobody wants to go in and change your quarterbacks each and every week," Kelly stated when asked if it was a permanent change. "Our hopes are Tommy is productive and can play at a high level week in and week out. He's got a pretty good resume, he's 4-0 as a starter."
Rees took over as the starter last year when Crist went down for the season in October with a ruptured patella tendon in his left knee, and as a freshman guided the Irish to four straight wins to finish an 8-5 season.
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