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Starting QB question soon to be answered
SOUTH BEND, Aug 17, 2012 (Goshen News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
As high school football season begins tonight, the Notre Dame football team still has a few weeks of practice ahead before the Fighting Irish travel across the pond to take on Navy in their 2012 season opener in Dublin, Ireland, Sept. 1.
And with that practice time starting to dwindle, Irish head coach Brian Kelly and his staff are still wrestling with one of the key questions facing the team in 2012: Who the starting quarterback will be.
It's a question that has dogged the Irish since the end of last season, and one that may finally be nearing an answer, according to Kelly.
Kelly told reporters at Notre Dame media day on Thursday that he expects to name a starter early next week as the Irish shift their practice focus to preparing for Navy.
Whether or not that decision is shared right away with the public is still up in the air.
The decision, at this point, has apparently come down to junior Andrew Hendrix or sophomore Everett Golson. Junior Tommy Rees, the starter for most of the 2011 season, is suspended for the opener after off-season legal troubles stemming from his arrest outside an off-campus party.
"We've had a lot of guys get work and reps," Kelly said. "I couldn't be more pleased with how the guys have responded."
And as Kelly enters his third season, the Irish players know what to expect from him. "There's a comfort level, and a consistency," Kelly said. "I'm excited about the work our football team has done, but we've still got a lot of work to do over the next two weeks in preparation for Navy."
That preparation, Kelly said, gets under way in earnest on Monday, and practices will be scheduled in the morning to begin to acclimatize the players to the time change. The Sept. 1 game against Navy will kick off at 9 a.m. Indiana time.
And that preparation, Kelly said, will begin with a starting quarterback.
"We're moving closer to that," Kelly said. "On Monday, we'll sit down and talk about how all the reps will be distributed."
Kelly said he doesn't want to play two quarterbacks. "When I've done that, it's been because I had to," Kelly said."I'd rather have one guy make himself known to everyone that he's the starter. But it's always good to have a No. 2 who can go out and win for you."
For his part, Hendrix plans to keep practicing like he's going to be the starter.
That won't change even if he's not the guy, Hendrix said. "You're only a play or two away from having to be the starter," Hendrix said.
___ (c)2012 the Goshen News (Goshen, Ind.) Visit the Goshen News (Goshen, Ind.)
at www.goshennews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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