The 2014 season held so much promise for Notre Dame and for Everett Golson. That promise, and that hope saw a 6-1 start for the Irish. Within that span, Everett Golson played like a real candidate for the Heisman trophy. Yes, he had a few hiccups with turnovers, and he lost to Jameis Winston and Florida State, but he had some phenomenal moments and his stats were piling up along with the wins.
How quickly it all came down. Of course we should have seen some of it coming as the turnover situation was just rushing down the mountain like an alpine avalanche. Despite erratic play, it took Brian Kelly almost the entire season to make any kind of change at quarterback. A lot of the Irish faithful thought this took too long.
The wait until September of 2015 won’t just be longer than that, it will feel like ages will have past. Why? Because despite anything that happens in the upcoming bowl game and spring practice, the simple truth is that the Irish are fairly loaded with talent at quarterback and the current “starter” had enough issues this season to finally get benched in the last game of the year.
So, what could happen? Well, that depends upon your belief in “the third year.” 2014 was just the second year with Golson as the starter, and as we have seen in the recent past with Notre Dame’s better quarterbacks- the 2nd year has promise, but it is still a rough ride. The third year, however, shows a dramatic change in play. The two most recent studies are that of Jimmy Clausen and Brady Quinn.
Brady Quinn
Jimmy Clausen
Of the two, Quinn and Clausen, Clausen’s play was most similar to what we saw from Golson this year. Speaking of which…
Everett Golson
If Golson sees just as significant of improvement next year as Quinn and Clausen saw in their third years, we may be witnessing a real run at a National Title and Heisman trophy.
Do you think I’m full of shit? I don’t blame you if you do. It’s not a very concrete argument to continue to start Golson- not nearly as concrete as we still have no idea if Zaire can run the entire offense for a game let alone a season. I’m merely pointing out that we may be able to hang our hat on a little history and a little hope.
