Golson, Fighting Irish Shake Down Thunder Against Michigan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jerad Shaw-
On Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish proved that the hype train their fans put them on at the beginning of every season might be real. Their game against Michigan was figured to be a close one, and was anything but that.
A record-setting night for the Irish in their last meeting with Michigan for the foreseeable future put the Irish back on my map, for now.
What should be on everyone’s map whether you are a Notre Dame fan or not is the transformation of Everett Golson. After sitting out last year for academic violations, Golson has showed much more than what shows up in the stat column. The character this kid has shown over the last year is proof enough that the Irish are in good hands.
Saturday, he proved that his transformation wasn’t just character based. Minus the first-possession mistakes in handling the play clock, Golson was poised and showed the moxie of a senior leader. While his three-touchdown, 226-yard passing performance was good for the books, it’s the way he did it that has Notre Dame nation ready to shake down the thunder once again.
Golson was in control of all situations and never looked rattled outside of that first drive. That’s something that ND fans have been anticipating for some time.
And now, Golson will have to deal with the idea of a Heisman race. Regardless of what is said, that is a gigantic distraction to not only him, but the entire team. I’m not quite sure there is someone more prepared for the onslaught of coverage than Golson. After his last year of trials and tribulations, he’s proven his shoulders are broad, and can bear plenty.
There just seems to be a different attitude about this squad that we haven’t seen in a handful of years. A defense that teams rarely fear, showed a bit of an edge this weekend. No matter what the experts say, Michigan is still Michigan. To pitch a shutout against a proud program like the Wolverines shows that Notre Dame’s defense is ready to take the next step. For the first time in the history of the rivalry, the Irish were able to keep Michigan off of the scoreboard in a dominating performance.
With a virtual bye week vs. Purdue in the Shamrock Series at Lucas Oil Stadium, and a neutral site game vs. Syracuse, Notre Dame’s first real test will come October 4 vs. Stanford.
At that time, all questions will be answered as to whether this team will make a run at one of four spots in this year’s first college football playoff.
Should the Irish play as they did on Saturday, that might not be as much of a stretch as what I had originally thought at the beginning of the season.
Well, that is if they can figure out a way to reschedule their game versus Florida State in October. Even the loyal fans of the gold helmets don’t believe that they can go to Doak Campbell Stadium and beat the Noles, do they?[[In-content Ad]]
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On Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish proved that the hype train their fans put them on at the beginning of every season might be real. Their game against Michigan was figured to be a close one, and was anything but that.
A record-setting night for the Irish in their last meeting with Michigan for the foreseeable future put the Irish back on my map, for now.
What should be on everyone’s map whether you are a Notre Dame fan or not is the transformation of Everett Golson. After sitting out last year for academic violations, Golson has showed much more than what shows up in the stat column. The character this kid has shown over the last year is proof enough that the Irish are in good hands.
Saturday, he proved that his transformation wasn’t just character based. Minus the first-possession mistakes in handling the play clock, Golson was poised and showed the moxie of a senior leader. While his three-touchdown, 226-yard passing performance was good for the books, it’s the way he did it that has Notre Dame nation ready to shake down the thunder once again.
Golson was in control of all situations and never looked rattled outside of that first drive. That’s something that ND fans have been anticipating for some time.
And now, Golson will have to deal with the idea of a Heisman race. Regardless of what is said, that is a gigantic distraction to not only him, but the entire team. I’m not quite sure there is someone more prepared for the onslaught of coverage than Golson. After his last year of trials and tribulations, he’s proven his shoulders are broad, and can bear plenty.
There just seems to be a different attitude about this squad that we haven’t seen in a handful of years. A defense that teams rarely fear, showed a bit of an edge this weekend. No matter what the experts say, Michigan is still Michigan. To pitch a shutout against a proud program like the Wolverines shows that Notre Dame’s defense is ready to take the next step. For the first time in the history of the rivalry, the Irish were able to keep Michigan off of the scoreboard in a dominating performance.
With a virtual bye week vs. Purdue in the Shamrock Series at Lucas Oil Stadium, and a neutral site game vs. Syracuse, Notre Dame’s first real test will come October 4 vs. Stanford.
At that time, all questions will be answered as to whether this team will make a run at one of four spots in this year’s first college football playoff.
Should the Irish play as they did on Saturday, that might not be as much of a stretch as what I had originally thought at the beginning of the season.
Well, that is if they can figure out a way to reschedule their game versus Florida State in October. Even the loyal fans of the gold helmets don’t believe that they can go to Doak Campbell Stadium and beat the Noles, do they?[[In-content Ad]]
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