Everett “Noleson”…Garnet and Golson…whatever you want to call Everett Golson, he has finally arrived at Florida State and hopes to be the next great quarterback to don the Seminole uniform. Most people can agree that he has the potential to be just that, but for various reasons, he has not been able to achieve that potential throughout his career. The biggest reason is probably his propensity for turning the ball over.
As mentioned in an article posted Tuesday, Golson had a total of 22 turnovers last year, effectively ousting him from the starting spot in South Bend and convincing him to look elsewhere for his final year of eligibility. These turnovers are what cause many observers to hold cautious optimism about Golson. Nothing is hurt by bringing him in to compete, but it has yet to be seen if he can get past issues that have plagued him for most of his career.
In this article, we have watched the tape for all 22 of Golson’s turnovers (interceptions and fumbles) and gave observations for all of them. It’s important to do this exercise in order to have a better understanding of what exactly Golson’s quirks are and what leads to many of these. It can also tell us which interceptions weren’t really his fault and how much blame he should actually get for them. Some will remember a similar thing happened with FSU quarterback Jameis Winston last year where he had multiple interceptions that were not solely his fault.
It, of course needs to be noted that just looking at his turnovers don’t tell exactly how well Golson played or how talented he is. The focus of the this article is purely on his biggest downside and what causes him to display it in games. It should not be cited as a holistic evaluation of Golson. For example: In the Syracuse game that gets examined, Golson completed 25 straight passes at one point. But that’s not being looked at because it’s not relevant to the topic.
So without further ado, let’s look at Golson’s tape and see what pops out:
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 04: Everett Golson #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is pursued by Kevin Anderson #48 of the Standford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium on October 4, 2014 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Standford 17-14. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Syracuse (2 interceptions, 2 fumbles)
1st INT – Golson plain overthrows his wide receiver on this play. There was some pressure from the left and it seems like that may have rushed Golson into the throw. This one’s definitely on him.
2nd INT – Pressure is by far the main reason Golson throws this one. He noticed that Syracuse has more pass-rushers than Notre Dame had players to block them, so he attempts to get it out quickly. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice the defender sitting back and waiting, allowing him to jump right in front of the ball and return it for an easy touchdown.
1st FUM – Golson runs out of the pocket and gets about 15 yards before he is hit and fumbles.
2nd FUM – Fumbles are the ball carrier’s fault 99.9 percent of the time, but this one might fall into that .1 percent range. Golson intends to spike the ball while driving but fumbles the snap and throws it to the ground. Syracuse recovers and the officials call it a fumble on review. Problem is, the whistle was blown after he forced it the ground and the Notre Dame players assumed the play was dead. If the whistle wasn’t blown then it would be on Golson…but the sequence of events makes it hard to put it all on him.
Stanford (1 interception, 1 fumble)
INT – Golson rolls out to the left…and keeps rolling out with nobody to throw to. Ultimately he gets pressured enough that he tries to squeeze a pass in the corner, which is picked off by a defender. This was right near the Stanford end zone.
FUM – Golson hits the ground running before having the ball stripped near his own goal line.
North Carolina (1 interception, 2 fumbles)
INT – There doesn’t appear to be any noticeable pass-rushers near Golson when he throws this. It’s just a bad throw that is behind his receiver and easy picking for the defender. It is returned for a touchdown.
1st FUM – Golson is pressured in the pocket and fumbles.
2nd FUM – Golson tries to make something happen and runs out the pocket before getting hit and fumbling.
Florida State (2 interceptions)
1st INT – Golson gets hit from behind by Tyler Hunter, causing the ball to sail on him and get intercepted by Jacob Pugh. It should be noted that the receiver he was throwing to was swarmed with the defenders.
2nd INT – It’s hard to put the blame on Golson for this one. Yes it’s his throw, and yes he had ample time in the pocket…but it’s an end-of-game situation where he has no choice but to heave up a shot. All his receivers were covered and he just had to say a prayer when he threw it. There’s enough stipulations that you can say this one really isn’t his fault.
Navy (1 interception)
INT – He doesn’t seem to notice the safety over top and attempts a bad throw near the goal line. The safety jumps it and this is the result.
Arizona State (4 interceptions, 1 fumble)
1st INT – This is supposed to be a quick out to a receiver, but Michael Felder of Bleacher Report points out that the offensive lineman missed his cut block, allowing the defender to get his hands up. That’s true, but when it happens again later in the game it becomes a question if Golson is not properly responding to the play.
2nd INT – This is very similar to the first one, except this one gets returned for a touchdown. This is great defensive awareness by Arizona State and bad luck of the Irish that both the batted passes fall into a defender’s hands.
3rd INT – Here’s another costly turnover right near the opponent’s end zone. Golson has a ton of time in the pocket on the rollout, but still somehow gets forced into the throw. He gets hit from behind, which is the exact opposite of what the rollout intends, and the pass wobbles right into the hands of an Arizona State defender.
4th INT – It’s unfair that this gets counted as a interception for Golson. Felder said “Not all turnovers are created equal” and it’s no more apparent than this one. Corey Robinson literally has this in his hands and chest area…only to toss it to the defender. This interception and touchdown return are on Robinson.
FUM – Golson gets pressured in the pocket and fumbles inside the ASU 20-yard-line.
Northwestern (1 interception, 1 fumble)
INT – One wonders what percentage of Golson’s tipped balls get intercepted. It seems like it would be above the 75 percent line. He gets pressured on the throw and he tries to get rid of it, but it hits his own lineman’s head before ricocheting into a linebacker’s hands. The problem is that he was throwing into an area where it looked like it could be intercepted before the ball was even tipped.
FUM – This one is a failed hand-off on an option play and yet another turnover right near the opponent’s goal line.
Louisville (1 interception)
INT – Here’s another defender Golson misses before throwing. He jumps right in front of the pass and returns it to inside the Notre Dame 20-yard-line.
USC (1 interception, 1 fumble)
INT – As good as Corey Robinson is, this is the second time he was directly responsible for an interception in 2014. Golson makes a perfect throw: High enough to avoid the linebackers and with the right amount of zip so that it doesn’t float while leading his receiver to the ball away from the defender. Unfortunately for Golson, it goes right through Robinson’s hands and straight to the safety.
FUM – Golson gets hit from behind and the ball goes right to a USC lineman.
After looking at all these clips and analyzing them, it appears that there are four total turnovers, three interceptions and one fumble, that shouldn’t be attributed to Golson. Two of the interceptions were caused by Corey Robinson and the Hail Mary attempt at the end of the FSU game was a desperation move where he had to throw it up no matter what. The second fumble at the Syracuse game also had a set of weird circumstances where it’s a bit unfair to blame Golson. With these corrections in mind, his touchdown-to-turnover ratio bumps up from 1.6 to 2.0.
Some observation to take notice of: Seven of the interceptions that were his fault involved pressure of some sort. While he is usually very good in the pocket, he sometimes stands in it for too long and throws an errant pass that gets picked off. Hopefully, Florida State head coach Fisher will teach him that it’s better to either throw it away out of bounds or take the sack.
Six of the interceptions came near either Notre Dame’s goal line or the opponent’s goal line. If not all turnovers are created equal, these ones are certainly more devastating than the average. This tells us that Golson wants to force things too often in order to either capitalize on field position or escape the shadow of their own end zone.
FSU fans saw last year what happens when passes get forced, so Golson will also have to understand that he doesn’t have to make everything happen on his own. Some Notre Dame fans have claimed that Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly put too much on Golson and not the rest of the offense, which will likely not happen in 2015 as long as Florida State keeps its backfield healthy.
Looking at the tape actually makes it a bit more exciting to see Golson potentially run the Seminoles’ offense this upcoming season. The main catalyst for his turnovers (pressure) is something that can be corrected if you have a good quarterback coach like Fisher.
With all due respect to Kelly, his track record with quarterbacks at Notre Dame hasn’t been stellar. Golson has a ton of potential and showed it throughout the season but it seems like Kelly may have been pushing him to do things that he wasn’t able to do just yet. While Golson will have to deal with some positions being thin depth-wise and young, one would think Coach Fisher could find a way for him to display his strengths without the negatives creeping up.
Will Golson succeed at FSU and deal with his turnovers? We won’t know until we see him perform in-game. But after reviewing the film, it bolsters the idea that he will progress while at Florida State.
