Notre Dame Hopes Dayne Crist is Only Rabbit Brian Kelly Will Pull Out of Hat

Five chafing questions as Notre Dame prepares for its season opener and the debut of the Brian Kelly era (only the fourth "era" since Dr. Lou departed 14 years ago) in South Bend versus Purdue on Saturday:

1. Body of Crist? Junior quarterback Dayne Crist will make his first start for the Irish since tearing an ACL last Halloween night versus Washington State in the Alamodome. Kelly was an absolute magician in his last two seasons at Cincinnati when it came to pulling quarterbacks out of his hat. In 2008, he won the Big East despite having to use a fifth-string quarterback. Last year, after Tony Pike was lost to injury, he inserted Zach Collaros, who only set a Big East record for total offense in one game with 480 yards passing and 75 yards rushing.

Kelly would prefer not to have to perform an encore in 2010. The Irish have depth at every offensive skill position except quarterback, where the inexperienced Crist's backups are freshman Tommy Rees and junior-juco-returnee Nate Montana. They've taken no snaps at the FBS level between them.

Crist is charismatic, mobile, big, strong and humble. Wally Cleaver looks up to him. He's the type of quarterback the priests here would consider an answered prayer. But he needs to stay healthy. If Crist starts all 12 games for Notre Dame, it has a chance to be a nine- or 10-win team. And headline writers from coast-to-coast will have a field day.

2. How will Kelly's Irish differ from Charlie Weis' Irish? When Notre Dame released its two-deep chart for the Purdue game, Kelly said something that every Irish fan should keep in mind all season: "I wouldn't get married to who's first and second (string). They're interchangeable pieces."

Where Weis might have had more of an NFL mentality when it came to starters and subs, expect to see a lot of different numbers on the field for Notre Dame. One, because Kelly's game is based on being up-tempo and gassing the opponent, and two, because with few exceptions (Crist, the D-line and linebacker Manti Te'o), the gap between first and second string is negligible.

If you want to know what Saturday's Purdue game might look like, flash back to the first half of last season's Purdue game. In that one, Michael Floyd and starting tailback Armando Allen were out with injuries and quarterback Jimmy Clausen was severely hobbled with ligament damage in his big toe. Weis was forced to be imaginative and the exercise actually invigorated the Irish offense. Six different players rushed the ball and eight different receivers had at least one catch and, remember, this was without arguably the squad's top wideout and running back.

I'll be surprised if the Irish don't have at least eight different players with one catch on Saturday, and even more surprised if any single player has eight receptions.

3. Colin Cowherd on Wednesday said "Notre Dame doesn't have any gamebreakers." Has he been dipping into Vincent Chase's stash? Must be. Crist has an entire entourage (see what I did there?) of gamebreakers, playmakers, Madden '11 studs -- call 'em what you want. It begins with Floyd (has everyone forgotten his efforts versus Nevada and Stanford that quickly?) but continues with tight end Kyle Rudolph, slot receiver Theo Riddick and backup (for now) tailback Cierre Wood. Senior tailback Armando Allen has never been a breakaway threat, but he and frosh wideout TJ Jones also bear watching. Even without Golden Tate (Biletnikoff Award winner) and Clausen, these Irish should average 30 points per game.

Yes, the offensive line must replace three starters, but junior center Braxston Cave and sophomore left tackle Zach Martin may prove to be upgrades on the men they replaced. The rock of the O-line is junior right guard Trevor Robinson, who was a late de-commit from Nebraska in 2008. The Irish are very, very glad he changed his mind.

4. But can they stop anyone? We'll see. The popular Irish blog Rakes Of Mallow recently wrote, "If you're listing the biggest disappointments of the last few years, I think you start with (former defensive coordinator) Jon Tenuta's tenure at Notre Dame and Spiderman 3 and go from there."

The Irish media contingent will tell you that the switch from Tenuta to Bob Diaco is, at least from their perspective, an upgrade from Devil's Island to Fantasy Island ("Smiles. Smiles, everyone."). Are defensive ends Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore capable of controlling the edge? Who's ready to join Te'o (63 tackles as a freshman) in the stud muffin department in the linebacker corps? Is it surprise sophomore starter Carlo Calabrese or outside linebacker Darius Fleming? Will upperclassmen such as outside linebacker Brian Smith and safety Harrison Smith finally evolve?

The offense will be fun to watch. But the defense will be far more intriguing. Which is an improvement (ND fans hope) on frustrating.

5. Simply put: Will they kick ass? Weis made a lot of nice gestures in his initial year at Notre Dame, from pledging that the Irish would join Navy after games (who knew that there'd be losses involved?) when they sang their fight song to running a play designed by a South Bend boy who only a day earlier had succumbed to cancer. When it came to his alma mater, Weis' heart was always in the right place, even if his mouth wasn't.

But there were many moments, especially during home football weekends, when you just wondered if the Irish would be better off forgetting that "We are ND!" and just play a damn football game as if they were enjoying themselves. Notre Dame home games during much of Weis' tenure were the equivalent of the Griswolds visiting the Louvre and taking home a painting for themselves. Visiting teams toured the shrine and pilfered a souvenir for themselves.

Much has been made of the players' sense of entitlement, and it's true. Smugness, too. The players who laid the foundation did more with less than any current player has at his disposal. That, of course, is the American way. But it would be nice for the school's fans -- and alums -- to watch a team play with true passion and desire. To play the way Golden Tate did.

That, initially, is Kelly's biggest challenge. Is he the right man for this job? Every sign points to an affirmative answer, but as he himself said, "The jury's still out."

Remember, Irish fans: Notre Dame led 35-7 on the road at Pitt in Weis' first game. Saturday will answer some questions, but that jury should remain in deliberations long after Labor Day. Kelly himself would likely agree.