No, this will not be a post that will excuse Notre Dame for a rather terrible performance on the road against Arizona State. No team should turn the ball over five times and expect to win against a ranked team. Period.
Beyond the turnovers, Arizona State put a hell of a game together, consistently putting pressure on Golson, notching seven sacks and giving him happy feet the whole game.
In the first half, Arizona State ran at a totally different speed than the Irish defense that looked gassed playing on short fields with no rest. Perhaps the injuries and suspensions that the Irish have faced in those crucial positions (KeiVarae Russel and Cody Riggs) finally caught up to the Irish and were yet another mitigating factor in this disaster.
While the Irish did manage to put a comeback threat together, once they got within a single possession of Arizona State, the heat was turned back on in the desert and Arizona State pulled away. Playoff dreams were dashed. Any angst over how the committee underrated the Irish and their strength of schedule proved a fruitless exercise.
While this loss stings, and make no mistake I’m incredibly bummed by the entire affair, all is not lost. The fact of the matter is that an Irish team, young and ravished by injuries, still has a chance to finish 10-2. Such a finish would be a record well beyond what most ND fans expected at the beginning of the season. Winning out, and winning a big bowl game against a quality opponent to build momentum for 2015, is now the goal.
Now is not the time to jump off the ledge and go into full-blown “bench Golson” panic. While he has eclipsed the amount of turnovers that Tommy Rees had last season, he has also eclipsed the total number of TDs that Rees had all season and there are still more games left (Rees had 27 TDs, Golson has 24 passing TDs and 7 rushing TDs for a total of 31).
Yes, this game was terrible for Golson. It’s easily the worst game of his Notre Dame career. However, Notre Dame simply does not pull out some of the wins that they have this season without Golson. Everett giveth and Everett taketh away.
There is simply no guarantee that subbing in Malik Zaire automatically cures all the Golson turnover issues. There is this perception with many football fans that plugging in the backup quarterback will somehow magically do this. That just simply isn’t the case, especially when you consider that this is a quarterback who has only lost three games in his entire career.
If Golson continues down this path and appears to regress even further, sure, let’s have that discussion. Hell, I’m perfectly fine having it this offseason even if Golson runs a clean sheet the rest of the way. Pulling the plug before the season is over simply seems like folly.
One of the main reasons that Golson had those turnovers is because of the pressure that Arizona State placed on him or by making plays at the line. If the roles are reversed, I guarantee we don’t sit here saying Taylor Kelly is terrible, but rather praising the our defensive line for transcendent play. Trying to place this loss solely on Golson negates what Arizona State accomplished on the field.
Also, let’s not forget that Golson is also a large part of why Notre Dame even managed to make this game in the second half.
This loss sucks, but there can be a middle-ground between “championship contender” and “out of the top 25” which, again, is where many (myself included) thought the Irish would land preseason. And here we are.
Now is not the time to jump of the ledge or burn it all down.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
KyNDfan
It’s not ok, but I’m still behind my boys. We ride together, we die together. Or something like that. The most concerning part about the turnovers is that he hasn’t improved. He still carelessly palms the ball when scrambling and the happy feet makes things worse. I seriously hope we can win out, get these young players plenty of experience in the process, and be ready to make a playoff run next season. I’m not convinced it will go that way. One thing is for sure; Jim Beam will make a killin off of me over the next 4 games.
Ryan Ritter
I think it’s fine only in as much as taking a step back and getting perspective. I’m disappointed about the game, but this felt more like a dose of reality than anything.
Golson’s fumbles do still worry me, but the O-line can share some of the blame for this game. Both fumbles (only one lost) were caused by the pass rush that caused Golson to scramble and try to do so much.
Golson has done much better in protecting the ball in scrambles, so now the next lesson is to learn when it’s time to take the sack and not try to do too much in order to escape pressure.
Irish Elvis
I’m not sure how much any QB can be faulted for guys running free & unblocked in the backfield. Kudos to ASU defense for getting Folston off the field and forcing BK to go to McDaniel for pass blocking. ND receivers dropped some catchable balls, with some of those floating into ASU defender hands.
As you said: we ride & die together. ND as a team lost that game, with too many miscues spread across a number of position groups. The fact that we pulled within 3 speaks to the immense talent across the roster & coaching staff.
I’m looking for the bounceback and consistency the remainder of the year.
KyNDfan
For the love of God, please beat Louisville!!! I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise!!!
Ryan Ritter
If that happens, I might just be leading the rush to the edge of the cliff. Oof.
Billy
I don’t play football, but I take it soooo personally when Notre Dame loses. This game against ASU hurt particularly badly. Golson looked AWFUL. Maybe he should be benched. He seems out of control during games the last few weeks.
IrishElvis
I don’t play football either, but in the last 2 weeks Golson has accounted for 8 TDs and 4 turnovers…and that’s assuming you attribute tipped passes to poor QB decision-making. A 2:1 ratio the last two games isn’t what I’d label “out of control” especially when his season TD/INT ratio is at 3:1.
Perhaps you should endeavor to take losses less personally…it’s not as if a group of 18-22 year olds are actively attempting to harm your psyche.
Touch Down Tommy
It took Notre Dame until the third quarter to get Mc Daniels in the back field to block for Golson. It took Notre Dame until the the third quarter to start to throw screen passes. I don’t blame Golson I blame Kelly and the coaches in the box up above for not making the changes. Doesn’t anybody ever ask why we can’t run two backs in the back field especially in short yardage or at the goal line. Some times you have to admit you were out coached.
jdthom1
I agree to an extent about the run game, especially the 2 back sets, but truly balanced teams are few and far between. O-lines are taught how to run block and pass block differently. Very few excel at both across the line. ND is a pass first team and that’s fine, but the breakdowns in the game occurred in pass protection, giving up 6 or 7 sacks and getting 2 passes tipped at the LOS that got intercepted. Golson is not Tommy Rees and cannot check into the right protections before the snap so the coaches have to do that work for him. Bringing McDaniel in helped but it took 2 1/2 quarters to figure that out. There wasn’t much else that could be done, though as the preparation and/or film study was lacking. Kelly said ASU ran the same defenses and same blitzes it ran last year. Then there was no excuse for the offensive line’s lack of preparation by the coaching staff.