Everett Golson grows toward potential, and so does Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Michigan came into its much-hyped final game against Notre Dame (for the foreseeable future, anyway) with a great gameplan for Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson — the version of Golson they saw in 2012, that is.
The problem, though, is that Golson is a much different player than he was two seasons ago and showed as much in Notre Dame's dominant 31-0 victory Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
If No. 15 Notre Dame has done anything through two weeks and two blowout victories, Brian Kelly's team has sent a clear message to the 10 remaining opponents on their schedule: Stack the box at your own peril. This isn't 2012 anymore.
"They decided they wanted to take (running game) opportunities away from us, and we were glad to oblige them and throw the football," Kelly said. "If someone is going to play the game so one-sided defensively, we're going to throw the football."
Golson, who served a university suspension last season for an academic issue, was hard on himself after going 23-of-34 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He felt he left some plays out there, made a couple questionable decisions. It's also true that Notre Dame benefitted from great field position all night and never got much game pressure from the hapless Michigan offense.
But Golson looks like a completely different player now than he did two years ago when Notre Dame relied on its defense and gave him simple, conservative game plans, asking him for little more than to avoid mistakes.
Golson was good enough to get Notre Dame to 12-0 and the BCS National Championship game, but it all came crashing down against Alabama. The Fighting Irish were too one-dimensional to have any chance, and the Crimson Tide exposed their lack of a legitimate passing game.
Clearly, though, Golson went to work last winter with quarterback guru George Whitfield. Practically everything he threw against Michigan had zip and accuracy, and it's obvious he has a much better feel for when to take shots and when to play it safe.
"Everett has been throwing the ball great and putting it in positions where we can make plays," receiver Amir Carlisle said. "It's a testament to his character. There was some adversity he dealt with, and he really worked on the finer things in his game and it's really showing the first two games of the season."
The result is that Kelly now has a quarterback who can run the offense he wants to run, the offense that worked for him back at Cincinnati and in the old days at Central Michigan.
You wouldn't have known it watching Notre Dame in 2012, but Kelly wants to spread out a defense and play with some tempo. He now has a quarterback who is capable of playing that way, and that's a huge development for what Notre Dame can become the rest of this season.
"I think it all started when he really got an opportunity to learn how to protect himself," Kelly said. "Protections, for me, is the catapult for quarterbacks in their development, and once that clicked for him, now when you know you're protected and your eyes can get into progressions and see routes and see their development. When he felt comfortable in protecting himself, that's when he really started to grow as a quarterback."
Golson acknowledged that the playbook for him is much different now, and so is the load he's taking on as the leader of the team.
"I think it's a different dynamic this year, we want to play aggressive," Golson said. "Two years ago it was a lot on the defense so we definitely want to be more aggressive this year."
It's probably premature to put Golson into the Heisman mix — he hasn't hit 300 passing yards in either game — but his efficiency is just what Notre Dame needs. As a redshirt freshman he completed 58.8 percent of his passes for just 7.56 yards per attempt. So far this season, those numbers have gone up to 63.6% and 13.41 yards without an interception.
Golson may not be a finish product, but his polish will serve Notre Dame well as it reaches the meat of its schedule.
"It can't just be about a strong arm," Kelly said. "Accuracy has to be a part of it, and he's developed that in his time here and I really think the offense and him really understanding the offense helps in that accuracy as well."