Everett Golson and Jameis Winston Have Followed Similar Paths

Everett Golson and Jameis Winston are two of the premier quarterbacks in all of college football. They both led their teams to the BCS Title game as Redshirt Freshmen. The obvious difference is that Winston finished the job. Both are winners. Neither has lost a regular season game as a starter.

Both have had their off the field troubles. Golson lost a whole year of eligibility due to cheating on a test. Winston has just trouble follow him everywhere. None of us know what happened with that girl, so it really is a bunch of he said/she said. But then he stole crab legs from a store and claimed he just forgot to pay for them. That action got him suspended from the baseball team the rest of the year. Then earlier this season, he got suspended a game for yelling a really obscene remark. Now he might be involved with signing autographs for money. So while both have had their troubles, it does appear that Golson has at least learned from his mistakes.

On the field their numbers this season are similar as well. Golson 1683 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in 6 games. Winston has 1605 yards with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 5 games. Where Golson has an edge on him is in the running game. He has 209 yards with 4 touchdowns while Winston has just 38 yards and 2 touchdowns. Of course, Winston has not fumbled 5 times the last 3 games.

But the thing that these two have in common above all else is that they both are at their best with the game on the line. That is a big reason why neither has tasted defeat in the regular season. That will obviously change for one of them this weekend. But neither will want it to be him. The drama is just crazy thinking about that.

Game Will Mean More to Notre Dame in Terms of Making Playoffs

Now I will talk about the game of the year. I am the type of person who refuses to put up a Christmas tree until the day after Thanksgiving. Along those same lines, I have been annoyed the past few weeks hearing all the talk about our game with Florida State. I deal with one game at a time. I refused to talk about Florida State until the final tick of the North Carolina game.

Now it is time to hype the crap out of it. For Notre Dame, this is in all sense a playoff game. I know it is only the half way point of the season, but whether or not the Irish ultimately make the playoffs will be greatly influenced by what happens in this game.

There are three scenarios that can happen after this game for the chances of Notre Dame making the playoffs.

Scenario #1-Irish Win

Notre Dame wins and they control their own destiny. A victory would certainly put the Irish in the top 4 and as long as they keep winning, they make the Final Four.

Scenario #2-Irish lose a close one

Looking at the schedule before the season, I thought that if there is one game Notre Dame can lose and still make the playoffs this is the one. They will still have two PAC 12 road trips to Arizona State and USC. Both are among the best in the conference. They also play Northwestern at home who is suddenly making some noise in the Big Ten. Louisville is their last ACC game and they are no slouch either. So there is still plenty of opportunity to impress the committee even with a loss.

But here is the thing. They have to at least be close to Florida State. By close, I mean within single digits. We will also have to get help and hope many of the Power five champs have multiple losses.

That is obviously a much less comfortable path.

Scenario #3-Irish get beat handedly

Bottom line is that if Notre Dame loses by two touchdowns or more, they are done. What they do the rest of the season will mean nothing in terms of making the playoffs.

Conversely, Florida State will not be impacted at all by this game in terms of them making the playoffs. Of course, they will come ready because everybody wants to beat Notre Dame. But still, it will have no impact on the selection process.

They are the reigning national champs. If they lose this game, they fall maybe to #5 or #6. That will not matter because SEC and Big 12 teams will knock each other out. The Seminoles will win the ACC and have a victory over Florida. Being that they already have a non-conference win over Oklahoma State, there is no way they get denied regardless of what the outcome of this game is.

This is huge game for both programs, but make no mistake of it. It is much bigger for the Irish in terms of making the playoffs.

Tarean Folston Has Huge Day as Notre Dame Avoids Trap and Becomes Bowl Eligible

We were all afraid of North Carolina being a trap game. Whenever you are coming off an emotional win and you have the #1 team in the nation and defending champs on deck, it is so easy for a let down to occur. Top that with the fact that the team you are playing is actually better than their record indicates at least on offense anyway. Those are the kind of conditions in which upsets occur.

The way this game started, that is exactly what it would like. Everett Golson missed his first five passes. He also fumbled which set up an early touchdown. He also threw a pick six.

But right after that, North Carolina was put on their Tar Heels. Notre Dame scored touchdowns on four straight possessions. The Irish hung 50 points in all. Despite his continued problems with turnovers, Golson threw for 300 yards with three touchdowns. He also rushed for 71 yards.

Will Fuller had another big day receiving with with 7 catches for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns. He has really established himself as the go to receiver.

But the offensive star of this game was Tarean Folston. Notre Dame hadn't been able to run the ball until today. Folston ran for 98 yards with 2 touchdowns. He was also a factor in the passing game as he caught 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. He had the hot legs today among the running backs so Coach Kelly stuck with him rather than rotate. That is the right thing to do and I hope it stays like that.

The defense had it's toughest day in surrendering 36 points. The quick movement by Notrh Carolina made it tough for the defense to get the signals and substitutions in. Also the short field on the turnovers did not help. Multi-threat quarterback Marquise Williams threw for 303 yards with two touchdowns.Williams was their leading runner as well with 132 yards and a touchdown. He even caught a touchdown from 23 yards.

In spite the struggles, Notre Dame got the win and became bowl eligible at 6-0. Although the bigger goals are still out there, becoming bowl is the first step in making the playoffs. Now it is time for the game we have all been waiting for as the Irish prepare to travel to Tallahassee. This one will be hyped all week and ESPN will be at the game for game day.

Irish Need to Beware of Trap Against North Carolina

When I first saw this season's schedule, the match up with North Carolina stuck out like a sore thumb. That is not because the Tar Heels on paper poses a serious threat to Notre Dame. On paper, The Irish should win this one easily. North Carolina gave up 70 points to East Carolina and are giving up an average of 41 points a game. That is a real chance for Everett Golson and company to have a big day offensively.

The Tar Heel offense does have a little explosiveness to it. They are led by Junior quarterback Marquise Williams who has 1083 yards passing with 9 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Williams is also the leading rusher with 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. Having said that, his numbers aren't even close to Golson's and this is without a doubt the toughest defense they have seen all year.

But what is dangerous about North Carolina is their placement on the schedule. They are sandwiched in between Stanford and Florida State. That of course would bring up the obvious concern of a trap game. After coming off such a big win against The Cardinal and with the Seminoles on deck, it is so easy to look past this game. That is what is dangerous. Not only that, but teams also have a way of getting up for Notre Dame. And although this team has not had a good start to the season, they were ranked at #23 in the Preseason poll. That means that they were expected to be better and potentially could be better than their record indicates.

Bottom line is, Notre Dame needs to come to South Bend ready to play the Tar Heels. I don't see Notre Dame losing this game, but I can see it being a lot closer than it needs to be if they are looking ahead. As exciting as that game was last week, I think I speak for all Irish fans when I say I have no interest in a close game this week. Notre Dame needs to put this one away by half time.

Would Bringing The Five Players Back Do Anybody Any Good At This Point?

This is my one and only article on this subject. I am not into worrying about who is not there and would rather focus on the players we do have. Nobody knows the truth but that will eventually come out. But the bottom line is this. The season will already be half over after this next game. That means that if they were to come back tomorrow they would have lost a half season of eligibility. For them, they would be better served to just sit this one out and then either transfer or come back next season.

For the team, fitting them in at this point may be tougher than you think. Davaris Daniels would have to work his way back among Will Fuller, Amir Carlisle, Corey Robinson, Chris Brown, etc. Notre Dame is loaded at receiver and Everett Golson already has chemistry with the other receivers.

For Ishaq Williams, Kendall Moore, and KeVarae Russell, they have to work their way back into a new system half way through the season. Although Bob Diaco and Brian Van Gorder are both great defensive minds, their systems and styles are totally different. If that isn't enough of a challenge, with as great as the defense has done all year who would you take out?

For Eilar Hardy, his spot on the bench has already been taken. It will probably be hard for him to find another one.

For the school, they are taking a major chance on getting future sanctions with the NCAA by letting these guys back. Although the school may find nothing, the NCAA is unpredictable. Therefore, the safest thing for Notre Dame to do to avoid sanctions is sit them out and is some if not all of them transfer, then so be it. That is much better than risking any kind of probation.

Based on all that, I would like to have them back but I am really not sure the risk is worth the reward.

Notre Dame Gives Coaches and Fan Base Heart Attacks In Win Over Stanford

WOW! What a game! This was a classic in the history of the Notre Dame-Stanford rivalry.

Going into it, I didn't really know what to expect. The reason being that I really didn't know how good either team was. Sure The Irish have been dominant and were 4-0, but their opponents were a combined 7-12 with no wins over teams from major conferences. There were just as many questions about The Cardinal. Shut out wins over Army and UC Davis are nothing to write home about. They had also lost a defensive struggle to USC and was very shaky a week ago in beating Washington.

One thing we did know was that this was going to be the toughest defense Notre Dame has seen all year. Going into the game, Stanford had only given up 26 points all season. This defense also is a veteran group with mostly seniors.

Take that and combine it with the worst weather conditions of the season so far, you would conclude that Everett Golson and company would have a really tough day. And they did. Golson had a fumble and an interception early. That led to a Kevin Hogan rushing touchdown on a drive that only required 10 yards. Not only that but Golson completed less than half of his throws and really was off on many of them.

But give him credit. He responded by making a run over 30 yards that led to a touchdown pass to Chris Brown. He also led an early fourth quarter drive that ended in a heck of a kick by Kyle Brindza from 45 yards. That gave the Irish a short lived lead. Stanford then put together a long time consuming drive that ended in an 11 touchdown run from local kid Redmound Wright. There were only three and a half minutes left. Golson had one last chance and he made the most of it. On 4th and 11, he found an unlikely hero in Tight End Ben Koyack in the endzone to take the lead with only minute left. Koyack has not caught many passes all season and only had one for five yards all day.

Golson finished with 241 yards and two touchdowns. Given the weather conditions and the fact that this is one of the best defenses in the nation, that is pretty damn good. His best receivers were Brown and Corey Robinson who came to life in the 4th quarter. The Irish finally got a little production from the running game with Cam McDaniel who had 41 yards. McDaniel was the primary featured back in this game and it seemed to pay off a little.

One guy who really deserves a lot of credit is Hunter Smith. This young man had a hard time handling the snaps in the weather conditions. Holding is not easy to begin with but in weather like this, it is even tougher. For him to botch two and still have the confidence to come back and put a critical one down says a lot about him.

Now for the studs of this game, the defense. Under Brian VanGorder, this young unit has really been impressive. Guys like Jaylon Smith and Max Redfield are really beginning to make names for themselves. It is a totally different style from Bob Diaco's bend but don't break style. This is all out attack bringing everybody. Other than that one long drive late, Stanford's offense was able to nothing all day. Their leading rusher was Wright with only 29 yards. Hogan was intercepted twice by Cole Luke and he only had 158 yards passing. The unit brought the house at Hogan on the final drive that forced him to throw an intentional grounding ball. That caused a runoff that ended the game.

From the time of Brindza's kick to the intentional grounding Irish fans everywhere had their hearts beating over 100. It was never a safe feeling until the final seconds ticked. With the win, the Irish move to 5-0 and will likely jump a few spots with Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A & M, and UCLA all losing.

Going forward, Notre Dame has North Carolina next followed by a trip to Tallahassee for a showdown with Florida State. They also end the season with two PAC 12 road trips to Arizona State and USC. Northwestern is starting to play really good football and Louisville is looking good too. If Notre Dame makes it to the playoffs, nothing would have been handed to them.

Go Irish! Great Win!

Stanford Appears To Be Notre Dame's Toughest Opponent So Far

As Notre Dame looks to add to it's 4-0 record, fans are excited yet curious about just how good the Irish are. Sure they have looked dominant for the most part, it has been against four really weak teams. Now here comes another traditional rival in Stanford into South Bend. When you think of Stanford, you think of a tough physical team that loves to run the ball. So on paper, this looks like a great game like the OT thriller two years ago.

But the reality is that the jury is still out on both teams. Stanford looks to have a very impressive defense as they have two shut outs in four games. Over all, the defense has surrendered only two touchdowns in four games. But those shut outs were against UC Davis and Army. That is clearly inferior competition.

Offensively, they have new starters on the line which has hurt their once great running attack. The leading runner is Barry Sanders with just 153 yards and a good chunk of that came in those two easy games. I think Notre Dame fans can relate to this on.

Kevin Hogan is now a Junior. He has less yardage and less touchdowns than Everett Golson. His best receiver is Ty Montgomery who has 26 catches for 276 yards and three touchdowns.

Stanford is 3-1 but I am not sure how impressive that is considering their one loss was to USC at home and they struggled to beat Washington who nearly lost to Hawaii.  Although we can hope for a good game, we will really only know that one team is out and will not know how good the winning team is. A loss will all but kill Stanford's playing chances. Notre Dame will have to win all games it seems to get in.