Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME low‑percentage play — is part of the experience. Golson won't get to play in a national cham‑ pionship as he did in his first year, but he knows he's a better quarterback now than then and plans to take it to a higher level in 2015. "The more fundamen‑ tal goal for us is just come out and be better than we were the day before," Golson said of short‑term objectives. "You're play‑ ing for something every time you're playing with your brothers. Every time you step on that field, you've got to understand that it's something that is bigger than yourself." Moments after the Ari‑ zona State game, Kelly was caught up in the heat of the moment by expressing his exaspera‑ tion with Golson. After watching the full tape of the game, though, Kelly said it's misguided to place blame and the onus on one person. "He's accountable for the football, and he took full accountability for it," Kelly said. "But the fact of the matter is, we have guys that are responsible for doing things on par‑ ticular plays when there are turnovers that didn't get their job done." On the first turnover, Golson's fumble, the Irish senior tight end Ben Koy‑ ack and sophomore run‑ ning back Tarean Folston were kept in as blockers for maximum protection on a seven‑step drop. Both missed their blocks. "We have more block‑ e r s t h a n t h e y h a v e blitzers," Kelly said. "We have two guys that get whipped, flat‑out get whipped. [Golson] doesn't expect to have any pressure on that play." The next turnover saw a quick slant deflected and then intercepted in a tip drill by the Sun Devils defensive line. According to Kelly, that was precipi‑ tated by an offensive line miscue. "We're trying to get the hands down of a defen‑ sive end, and we whiff on a block," said Kelly, who also blamed coaching for that miscue. Golson, however, did not deflect any blame on his blockers not cutting the rushers. "I've just got to be aware," Golson said. "It's on me. I've got to do a better job of seeing that.