After missing a full season due to poor academic judgement, Everett Golson looked like he never left. All he did was throw for 295 yards with two touchdowns while also rushing for 41 yards with three touchdowns. The stats don't even tell the whole story. He made throws that you would have to see to believe. He also should have had another touchdown pass as it was an easy catch that was dropped.
There is nobody who is a bigger Tommy Rees fan than me, but the playbook was much thinner with him in there. The offense is a lot less limited now and Brian Kelly can finally implement his style of offense. The only thing that makes me nervous about Golson is that the reckless style he plays with puts him at higher risk of injury. Michael Vick always had a hard time staying healthy.
Golson's favorite target was William Fuller who caught 4 passes for 85 yards. Golson distributed the ball around quite well as Ben Koyack, C.J. Prosise, Amir Carlisle, Corey Robinson, and Chris Brown all caught passes.
Notre Dame also had a group of solid runners. Greg Byrant gained 71 yards with a touchdown. Tarean Folston also had 71 yards and Cam McDaniel added 40. Even back up quarterback Malik Zaire gained 58 yards in some mop up duty.
The defense under new coach Brian VanGorder was solid for the most part. They but have a few breakdowns in spots but the Irish only gave up one touchdown that actually mattered. I expected to see a lot more blitzing, but maybe VanGorder is saving it for Michigan.
I was really pleased with the special teams especially the punt returns which has been a problem in recent years. Bryant and Cody Riggs both looked good returning punts. Only a missed field goal by Kyle Brindza was a blunder.
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