Rees to replace Crist as Irish starting QB
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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.
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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.
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"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.