Dayne Crist: Congratulations, Now Prove Me Wrong

After a long battle in training camp, Brian Kelly has chosen senior Dayne Crist to start over sophomore Tommy Rees at Notre Dame. As a Notre Dame fan, I will support that decision and hope Crist leads the Irish to a great year that includes a return to the BCS.

Although I will support this decision, I can't say totally that I agree with it.

I do respect all Kelly has done in college football. Having said that, I would have started Rees.

There are a few reasons for that. First, I am a true believer in not fixing something that isn't broken. The fact is, the team had momentum with Rees. They won four in a row and were playing with a confidence I hadn't seen in awhile.

I do understand that the playbook was simplified with Rees. That falls into the category of "who cares?"

I was told years ago that when things aren't going well, don't add, subtract. So maybe the playbook should have been simplified to begin with. I don't care if they only had five running plays and five passing plays. They were winning with it.

I don't want to suggest in any way that the early-season losses were on Crist. He played great against both Michigan schools. He wasn't so sharp against Navy, but he did have a depleted receiving corps. Then, against Tulsa, the team was sputtering on offense. Then he went down on a blatant cheap shot out of bounds.

Then Rees came in and played really well and sparked the team. He did have the interception at the end of the game, though.

Overall, I do think Crist played well last year and I am excited to see where he can lead the team this year. I do understand that his raw skills are superior to those of Rees. I hope he becomes the quarterback I thought he would be when I saw him throw a touchdown pass to Michael Floyd in the Army All-American high school game.

Although I like Crist a lot, there are two things that make me doubt the decision to start him. The first is that the team hasn't learned how to win with him. The second is that he is injury prone.

That does mean that it is good that they still have Rees right behind him. Having said that, I am hoping not to see Rees other than in blowouts.

Seeing Rees for any other reason would mean that the team is struggling with Crist or that he once again got hurt. That is what I absolutely don't want. I also don't want to be writing an article on Bleacher Report a few weeks from now saying "I told you so."

So congratulations, Dayne Crist. I look forward to seeing you. Now go prove me wrong.