Notre Dame Football 2012: Blue-Gold Spring Game On Saturday Puts Focus On The Quarterbacks

When the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field for their annual Blue-Gold Spring Game on Saturday afternoon, the focus will undoubtedly be on the competition for the starting quarterback position now that some of the Aaron Lynch transfer drama is already out in public. The four QBs in competition for Kelly's nod of approval are juniors Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix, redshirt freshman Everett Golson and ESPN's No. 3-rated QB in the 2012 class, true freshman Gunner Kiel.

Meanwhile, the defense will be hunting for turnovers. Brian Hamilton of The Chicago Tribune explains a bit about Brian Kelly's modified scoring system for the scrimmage:

"I've really looked at all the scoring systems I've used, and we're going to make this a team scoring system," Kelly said. "There will not be individual points for sacks or tackles for loss or pass breakups or any of that stuff. We're going to talk about stops and turnovers for the defense. Their points are earned by stops and turnovers."

It shapes up like this: A defensive stop before the 50-yard line earns four points, and a stop after the 50 earns two points. A turnover forced before the 50 earns seven points, and a turnover after the 50 earns three points.

And even if the offense scores, the defense might be rewarded: Forcing a field goal earns the defense two points.

"We believe that if we can hold you to field goals," Kelly said, "that's a mark of doing a very good job in certain situations."

Blue-Gold Spring Game

Day: Saturday, April 21, 2012

Location: Notre Dame, Ind.

Time: 12:30 p.m. CT

TV: NBC Sports Network

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