In 1989, when both were true freshmen, Lou decided to let Kelchner redshirt. He promised him that even though Mirer got some reps in as a true freshman, that they would both start with a clean slate in spring camp of 1990.
Both of them were putting up some pretty good numbers, but Kelchner had slightly better numbers, and for the Blue and Gold game, was selected as the Blue team's QB.
Back in those days, the Blue team always had the lion's share of projected starters.
I was friends with several of the offensive linemen during that time, and they all agreed that either one of them would have been able to do the job just fine, but that Kelchner had a slight edge.
Mirko Jurkovic even said that Kelchner had slightly better mobility, but both of them had plenty of foot speed.
Arm strength was about the same between both, that Mirer and Kelchner had the strength to make all of the throws.
Of course, this could have changed in the blink of an eye, or even during fall camp.
It all became a moot point when Bob "The Crippler" Dahl sacked Kelchner in the Blue and Gold game, breaking his collarbone.
He then got expelled for a semester, since he had two bad semesters of grades.
After the 1990 season was over, there was no question that Rick Mirer was the man, since he had faced a murderers' row of tough opponents all of that season, and did well enough.
The initial hope was that if Mirer had decided to turn pro after 1991, that Kelchner would stick around and play his senior and 5th year as the starter, but after having to spend the fall of 1990 at Holy Cross College (and he did bring up his GPA), and the alcohol charge finally being levied, the university wasn't going to let him back in unconditionally.
The alcohol charge was rather exaggerated, in my opinion. He wasn't drinking more than anyone else at that party, but he did make for a convenient target in the same way they treated Rick Mirer and Demetrius Dubose when they were at a party at Lafayette Square, where they arrested Demo for having drank one can of beer, and Mirer didn't even drink anything...
I believe we would have done just as well with Jake Kelchner at the helm. Maybe we win a couple more games, or maybe we lose a couple more games, but since we were contending for national championships (yes, even in 1991 until losing to Tennessee and Penn State back to back), we wouldn't have had any dropoff.
In the scenario where Mirer turns pro after 1991, I do think that we would have won 1993's championship as an undefeated team if Kelchner hadn't gotten in trouble, and played at ND for 1992 and 1993.
On another note, one QB who was highly respected by the linemen was Paul Faila. In 1991, when Mirer sat out the first two series of the Purdue game (can't remember whether it were due to a concussion or missing class), Paul Faila as a true freshman, had earned the start ahead of Kevin McDougal after kicking some serious butt in practice.
The linemen all said that having him at the helm felt exactly as if Mirer were running the offense. Faila could make all of the run blocking audibles, pass protection audibles, etc., as a true freshman.