Everett Golson: Jekyll and Hyde

While Golson has put up impressive numbers and broken a few records this season, he has also had miscues that seem to be getting worse and could be costly to the Irish.

This is your typical "Jekyll and Hyde" scenario with him.

The Notre Dame quarterback has been impressive when needed, but then again, those moments come after mistakes earlier in the last three games for the Irish.

Through the first three games, Golson had seven touchdowns and no interceptions. The last three games, Golson has nine touchdowns but has stacked up four interceptions and five lost fumbles.

Luckily for Notre Dame and Golson, his mistakes haven't cost them...yet.

Golson looked flawless against Rice and Michigan, slowed down against Purdue in Indianapolis, but got the job done, and then made a handful of mistakes against Syracuse at the Meadowlands, losing two fumbles and throwing two interceptions, one which was taken back for a touchdown. Although, Golson broke a school record with 25 straight completions and was one shy of tying the FBS record. 

One example of weighing out the bad with the good.

Golson came out against Stanford, threw an interception which didn't cost Notre Dame, but fumbled inside his own territory on a quarterback keep which resulted in a short touchdown drive for the Cardinal. In a game where little scoring happened until the fourth quarter, it could have been bad for the Irish.

After Stanford scored to make it 14-10 late in the fourth quarter, Golson lead Notre Dame down the field and after being sacked on third down, found Ben Koyack in the near corner of the endzone for the eventual game-winning touchdown. Golson was clutch. A two touchdown, two turnover game that resulted in a win. Once again, taking the bad with the good.

So perhaps after getting by Stanford, Golson would try to be better with the ball. Well, an interception and fumble on the first two drives against North Carolina gave the Tar Heels two short scoring drives and an early 14-0 lead. Of course, Notre Dame had enough time to climb back into the game and tied it on the first play of the second quarter. Notre Dame was able to hold on to the lead, then Golson, with his team up 35-29, fumbles at his own 23-yard line. One pass in the endzone later, North Carolina is up 36-35 late in the third quarter.

Again, enough time to come back. The Irish took a seven-point lead after a Golson touchdown pass to finish an 81-yard drive and converted on the two-point attempt, and then a big interception by the Notre Dame defense resulted in another long, offensive drive for a touchdown that gave the Irish a 50-36 lead, which they needed, because the Tar Heels had their two-minute offense going, but fell short as the Irish overcome Golson's mistakes and won the shootout 50-43.

Golson turnovers resulted in 21 of North Carolina's 43 points. That's troubling.

This Saturday, the Irish travel to Tallahassee to face Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles in a primetime matchup.

Notre Dame, fifth in the nation, can move into the top four with a victory over the second ranked Seminoles. If Golson turns the ball over early like he did against North Carolina, it will be harder to come back from a 14-0 deficit. Florida State is not the Tar Heels. The Irish can't get into a shootout with Winston. The defense needs to perform better, but Golson cannot be handing the Seminoles and any other team he plays easy points anymore.

It can be hard to figure out why Golson continues to be careless with the ball. A mental thing? Bad habits? Either way, with his team in the AP top five, and a 13 member committee willing to keep them out of the inaugural playoff with just one loss, Golson might be the goat if he turns the ball over like he has over the past three weeks. He came close to being one this past Saturday against North Carolina. 

A little more Dr. Jekyll, a lot less Mr. Hyde, Everett.