Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly unveils Blue-Gold game format

Brian Kelly kicked off Wednesday's press conference by jokingly guaranteeing that Notre Dame will be victorious in Saturday's Blue-Gold game.

But which side of the football will get the better of the glorified scrimmage?

After the offense dominated last year's spring game, Kelly announced on Wednesday that the scoring system will be altered to make it more difficult for the offense to score. Besides touchdowns and field goals, the offense can only score via runs that exceed 20 yards and passes that exceed 25 yards.

The first half will be separated into two 12-minute quarters, while the coaches will turn to a running clock with two 15-minute quarters in the second half.

In the first half, Kelly added, quarterbacks Everett Golson and Malik Zaire will be live.

"Everett and Malik will really get a chance to show themselves and be involved in everything within our game plan and compete,” Kelly said.

When asked why Kelly chose to make his quarterbacks live on Saturday, the sixth-year head coach elaborated.

“I just think both of them are guys that require that element in their game," Kelly said. "We’ll have a quick whistle, and our guys know that we’re not going to take shots at them. If they’re in a compromising situation, we do a pretty good job.

"But both of those guys need to be who they are, and that’s who they are. They are guys that need to move in the pocket and make plays with their feet. They both can run the football, and we want to run them both as well.”

Saturday's Blue-Gold game, which is closed to the public, will be held at the LaBar Practice Complex, kick off at 12:30 p.m. and be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network.