The Notre Dame Fighting Irish began arriving in Nashville this week to begin practice week after spending the holidays with their families. In a fitting coincidence, their practice home, Father Ryan High School, is also a “Home of the Irish”. Complete with a “Play Like A Champion Today” sign and a Knute Rockne quote.
The @MusicCityBowl sure picked a fitting spot for our team practices! pic.twitter.com/8FEoGL8L2l
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 26, 2014
Coach Brian Kelly stated early on that both quarterbacks would play in the Music City bowl against No. 23 LSU, but as of now he’s yet to name his starter. But that decision could be coming soon.
"“I haven’t made the decision on who the starter is yet,” Kelly said post-practice. “Both are getting quality reps. I probably have to make it here in the next 24 hours. They’re both going to play, and I’m just going to have to just get a feel for it and the flow of the game.” h/t Keith Arnold, Inside the Irish"
LSU, the top-rated defense in the SEC, isn’t impenetrable. The one weakness they have is stopping a running quarterback. Both Irish signal callers have the ability, there’s no question there, and game flow may decide who sees more snaps. Whether or not either is as talented or mobile as Dak Prescott of Mississippi State or Auburn’s Nick Marshall can be debated, but the Irish will have to try to expose the Tigers defense in any way possible.
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After a great start to the season for Everett Golson, the wheels came off..or the ball came out, and the downward spiral continued until he was benched against USC, making the way for Malik Zaire to have some moderate success against the Trojans and open up this conversation. It’s hard to know exactly what Zaire is fully capable of, but we may get a good idea once he takes some snaps against the LSU defense.
What is certain is that both quarterbacks will run and throw when in the game. It won’t be anything like the Andrew Hendrix experiment. This game means a lot to the position entering next season, as well as the pride of the program. This is a must win for the Irish, no matter who runs out as the starter.