Notre Dame escaped the sixth edition of the Shamrock Series against Purdue with a 30-14 victory. It’s a good thing Everett Golson is a magician. The Fighting Irish were riding high after that historic and gratifying 31-0 shutout over Michigan, and perhaps they used up a little more mojo than any Irish fan wanted to believe. So, it really comes as no shock that the Irish struggled against Purdue, an inferior opponent that, for years, Notre Dame has stumbled against and down right just played poorly against.
Of course this means that Everett Golson plays his worst game of the season. All Golson did Saturday was throw over 60% for his completion percentage for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also added another 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
It was that rushing touchdown, a 15 yard scramble, that put the Irish back up over the Boilers 17-14 with just seconds remaining before the end of the first half. These are the type of situations that haunted the Notre Dame football team in 2013. Yes, the team played poorly overall, and we will get into that at a later time, but when the Irish have a guy named Golson at quarterback, everything seems possible.
Everett Golson worked his magic, and now is firmly in the conversation for the Heisman as Notre Dame is undefeated and ranked #9 heading into the bye week. There is lots of work and improvement that can be done, and frankly, that has me more excited for this season. The possibilities are as endless as the different ways to pronounce Everett’s last name.
