USC vs. Notre Dame: Will Brian Kelly Use Andrew Hendrix Against the Trojans?

It was only a matter of time before quarterbacks Everett Golson or Andrew Hendrix saw the field for Notre Dame, and it was the redshirt freshman Hendrix who saw the first action of his career in last week's 59-33 rout of Air Force.

Coach Brian Kelly's offense likes to use some zone read plays, but with Irish QB Tommy Rees not threatening to run, defenses could overplay the handoff, leaving Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray with no room to run. 

Hendrix brings a different element, with enhanced mobility and the size and willingness to take the big hit.

Going forward, it's apparent Kelly wants to work Hendrix into the game plan, but the timing has to be right. Rees is still a young quarterback and putting Hendrix into the game after a turnover or a period of ineffectiveness could damage Rees' confidence. 

Granted, there's no time to be sensitive to individual players in a game situation, but we saw from Dayne Crist's struggles just how mental the quarterback position is.

Defending the zone read where the quarterback is a legitimate running threat requires a lot of discipline, and prior to a solid performance against California, the USC defense had been less than impressive. 

Adding to the appeal of playing Hendrix is that USC just went through a stretch of facing pro-style offenses in Syracuse, Arizona State, Arizona and the Golden Bears.

Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's background is in the NFL, in which the zone read play is extinct. He's rarely had to scheme against it in his recent career, and against Oregon last year, the Trojans gave up 53 points.

One other line of thinking could be that playing Hendrix against Air Force was a big bluff, just to give the Trojans an extra element for which to prepare, and that Rees will play from start to finish next Saturday night. 

It's a legitimate theory. You pull out all the gamesmanship you can think of for USC week, and this might be Kelly trying to play mind games.

The reality is, Hendrix can have the role that Zach Collaros had in Cincinnati's perfect season in 2009. It will be a benefit to Rees to have USC's defense off-balanced after going against Hendrix. 

It worked for Tony Pike two years ago, and it can work for Rees.

There will be a Hendrix package Saturday night, and it will be effective in some form. Even if he doesn't move the ball, it will help Rees. 

The old saying that when you have two quarterbacks, you really have none is the general reality.  With Crist and Rees, it was true for Notre Dame. With Hendrix and Rees, the Irish do have two quarterbacks.