Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/499410
Mike Sanford said a calmer demeanor in the pocket needs to be a prior‑ ity for Golson. He exhibited it very well during the final, game‑winning drive against LSU on a couple of short throws in which he patiently read his progressions, didn't bail out early and completed clutch passes. "With Everett, he gets so excited when there's a wide‑open throw," San‑ ford said. "His feet show excitement when you watch the tape; his body language shows excitement. Basically, we just want him to take the offense as it comes, make the appropriate throw and don't get so fired up. "He gets jacked up when there is a post open … he's improved a lot with his fundamentals because he had a tendency to bounce around as op‑ posed to playing with his cleats to the ground." With Zaire, Sanford's priority has been to refine some rudimentary flaws. "Malik, from a fundamental stand‑ point, has a tendency to play with a really wide base," Sanford said. "He's done a great job in the last week of tightening that base up. It makes him a more accurate passer. When he gets really wide he has a tendency to not be able to get through his throws with his back hip." Although it worked against LSU, Zaire is not a fan of sharing time at quarterback. "It's not the ideal situation," said Zaire, before invoking a "Pirates of the Caribbean" reference. "At the end of the day, there's only one Captain Jack Sparrow of the offense … Peyton Manning doesn't share time with a lot of people. I think his greatness and consistency, efficiency in the offense and what he does in his perfection‑