Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson (5) threw for 295-yards and rushed for 41-yards to contribute with five touchdowns in Notre Dame’s 48-17 win over Rice Saturday. Photo/UND.com (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
[dropcap]E[/dropcap]verett Golson connected 75 yards down field with Will Fuller to give Notre Dame it’s second touchdown of the day and a lead they would not lose.
Golson’s touchdown pass to Fuller was the longest of both their careers and set the tone for the game as Notre Dame went on to beat Rice, 48-17. The pass was also the longest at Notre Dame Stadium since Dayne Crist targeted Michael Floyd for an 80-yard touchdown against Western Michigan on Oct. 16, 2010.
“Will is one of those guys with tremendous speed and once you get an open field, you’ve definitely got to give him the ball,” Golson said following the game. “[He] definitely he ran a post. I definitely didn’t want to over‑throw, so I kind of threw him over to the middle instead and he made a good play.”
The senior from Myrtle Beach, SC. made his return to the Irish after not appearing with the team last year due to what has been called “poor academic judgement.” Golson showed no sign of rust, completing 14-of-22 pass attempts for 295 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 41 yards and three touchdowns.
“Obviously, the story of Golson was electric,” Head Coach Brian Kelly said after the game. “He kept his eyes down field, knew when to run, knew when to throw it; and those are things we really talked about. We didn’t want to over‑coach him in that we were going to allow him today to get outside the pocket and be a football player, and just naturally go play the game. And I thought he did that today extraordinarily well. He came back today and I think really showed the kind of player that he can be.”
Offensive production didn’t rest on just Everett’s shoulders, however.
Greg Bryant had eight touches for 71-yards, averaging 8.9 per carry, and one touchdown. Malik Zaire had a 56-yard carry in the fourth, the drive being capped off with Bryant’s touchdown.
The Irish rotated running backs every series, allowing players the chance to work longer than just a spot carry. The technique proved to be effective, as the Irish totaled 281 yards off 42 attempts with four touchdowns.
“But we are really trying to figure out how to get them the carries that they all deserve, and also keep them in the flow of the game,” Kelly said about the roations. “So we’re really trying to sort that and figure that out, as well, because they are all deserving of carries. We all believe that they bring something to the game and that’s what we kind of felt like that was the best way to start this game and that process (of rotating running backs).”
Notre Dame spread the ball out well too, despite missing one of their top targets due to the ongoing investigation.
Six of the seven receivers caught at least one catch for double-digit figures. Fuller totaled 85-yards total with four catches, including his 75-yard touchdown.
“It was actually a post that I ran,” he said. “I realized that I had the guy beat probably at the break point. I made him slip his hips, and I thought I had him beat after that.”
CJ Prosise had one catch for 53-yards and a touchdown. Amir Carlisle(32-yards), Chris Brown (12-yards), Ben Koyack (28-yards) and Corey Robinson (25-yards) all had single-receptions in the double-digits.
“I don’t think we are going to have one particular guy that’s going to eat up all the catches,” Coach Kelly said of the receiving corps. “I think that that’s what you’re going to see, is that the identity, if you will, of this team, is there’s not one guy. It’s going to spread all the way across the board. Everybody is going to get touches. You’re going to have three running backs; you’re going to a couple of tight ends; you’re going to have four or five wide receivers all catching footballs for us.”
Kelly added that Notre Dame have a lot of guys who have speed and can catch the football. He said that the receivers all have different skills that can help the team in multiple ways.
“So I think you’ll see that as a consistent pattern across the board each and every week,” Kelly said.
Defensively, the Irish held the Owls to 367-offensive yards with a fumble recovery and interception. The fumble came in the closing minutes of the game when Devin Butler forced a fumble off a reception by Cameron Decell. Nicky Baratti recovered the loose ball for Notre Dame.
Matthias Farley intercepted the ball with 21 seconds left in the first quarter with a six-yard return.
“I feel like we could compete with these guys,” said Rice quarterback Driphus Jackson after the game. “That was the biggest thing. I feel like we didn’t show up as the offense. All we can do is get better from here.”
Driphus threw for 163 yards and one touchdown off 13-of-24 attempts as well as throwing the interception.
Notre Dame will now focus their attention on next week’s game with Michigan traveling to South Bend.
“The guys are focused on getting better,” Kelly said. ” They know who they are playing. But it’s not going to get them any more ready by being distracted. They have got to focus on getting better and we’ll stick to our routine and our preparation and we’ll let y’all get excited about that game. But our guys, they want to play and it doesn’t matter who they are playing. It’s a pretty big group.”
Golson added: “We’ve got to prepare for Michigan just like we did Rice. I don’t think I get into all of the hype of the game and things like that. But at the same time, you have to take care of business and you have to prepare. Michigan got a great football team. It’s going to be a tough one but I’m ready for it.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC for Michigan at Notre Dame. Be sure to follow The Pit on Twitter for live in-game updates, as we will be at Notre Dame Stadium for the day.
