Notre Dame Football: Potential Cures for Everett Golson's Inconsistencies

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Only one quarterback took snaps for Notre Dame football in its 31-15 win over Syracuse on Saturday night, but it sure felt like two different players under center throughout the night.

Everett Golson was equal parts head-turning and head-scratching, sometimes looking like the rising Heisman candidate and other times appearing to be a slightly off turnover magnet. Golson’s night was Exhibit A in “How to Frame Statistics to Fit Your Argument.”

“It was pretty weird for me,” Golson said afterward. “What I take from it is I’ve just got to get better.”

The signal-caller completed a career-high 32 of 39 passes for a career-high 362 yards. He fired four touchdowns. He completed 25 consecutive passes—one shy of tying the FBS record.

“Oh my gosh, he played phenomenal tonight,” said defensive captain Sheldon Day, one of Golson’s best friends.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

To an extent, yes. But Golson also committed four turnovers. He fumbled on Notre Dame’s first and second drives (losing the first, not the second) and threw an interception on the fourth, missing an open Ben Koyack down the center of the field.

He then orchestrated a 95-yard touchdown drive, conducting the proper ensemble of short screens, curls and out routes, deftly placing the ball on his receivers’ mitts in stride.

When Notre Dame got it back the next time, he wasted no time in catapulting a 72-yard beauty to Will Fuller for a one-play touchdown drive.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Next time out? More of the same. Golson drove Notre Dame into enemy territory during the two-minute drill, handling the situation with the moxie of an NFL quarterback in an NFL stadium. Then, all of a sudden, Golson did his best Eli Manning impression and botched an attempted spike, resulting in a lost fumble that could have been worse.

“When I think of this game I think of my play as being sloppy,” Golson said. “I know I just really have to clean that up.”

The mixed bag continued in the second half, with Golson delivering a tailor-made pick-six to the Syracuse defense.

“It was kind of me reverting back a little bit kind of like my younger days,” Golson said. “I expect more out of myself than that.”

As the dust settles from Week 5 in college football, it’s still obvious Golson has all the makings of an elite quarterback, the key cog for a top-10 team. There’s no need to panic after his up-and-down night, but Notre Dame will need a more consistent, stable and discerning Golson as the season wears on.

Notre Dame won’t beat Stanford, Florida State, Arizona State or USC with five turnovers. The Irish know that. Maybe most importantly, Golson knows that.

“I just gotta be better,” Golson repeated afterward.

And that just may be the key takeaway from Golson’s on-field duality Saturday. He wasn’t satisfied. Not with new career highs. Not with a nearly perfect completions record.

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Golson doesn’t need to tinker with much. A bit more care with the ball in his hands in and outside of the pocket will help limit turnovers.

Brian Kelly, for his part, wasn’t satisfied either. But there was a telling calmness to Kelly’s postgame comments, as if he already knows Golson will bounce back and put the mistakes behind him, using the miscues as an optimal teaching moment.

“I’m a much better teacher after a win, and certainly tonight, our quarterback learned a lot from really having a great performance, too,” Kelly said. “He did a lot of really, really good things. He threw the ball on target down the field, and his perimeter throws were outstanding, so he did a lot of good things but learned so much from it.

“That’s a great teaching tool.”

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.