Everett Golson is still the starting quarterback at Notre Dame after an early exit in a 13-6 win over Michigan on Saturday in South Bend, Indiana. Brian Kelly gave the redshirt freshman a vote of confidence immediately following the game which saw 2011 starter Tommy Rees play the two and a half quarters. Kelly announced that Golson in still the starting quarterback. The 10th ranked Fighting Irish have this week off and will face Miami on October 6th at Soldier Field in Chicago.
"I don't really believe it's a matter of confidence, as much as he just has to settle down," Kelly said after the Michigan game. "He was not as comfortable as I would have liked after playing the Michigan State game where he was in an incredible environment. He just has to settle down a little bit. He'll be fine."
In four starts, Golson has seen Notre Dame win all four games, but has not finished two of the victories. Golson threw for 289 yards and had a TD pass and TD throw against Purdue, but exited after a fumble in the fourth quarter. Rees came on to guide Notre Dame to the game winning field goal. On Saturday against Michigan, he was 3-8 for just 30 yards and two interceptions. The Notre Dame defense produced four turnovers while Golson was in the game, and he could only produce three points from the interceptions.
"I came out and didn't really come out as focused as I need to be," Golson said. "I'm obviously happy that we got the win, but I still have to go back to the drawing board and do better next week. Going through this process, I know there's going to be some growing pains. It's not actually about having those games, it's about turning it over and handling the adversity and really turning it into something successful at the end of the day."
In 2009, Everett Golson threw 47 touchdown passes and three interceptions for the Myrtle Beach Seahawks. Following an injury in his senior season, he threw 25 TD passes and won a state title in 2010 in just eight games. Golson said that he is going to use his experience in high school to work hard and learn from the tough times to improve. He cited a loss to Crestwood in his freshman year of high school as a motivator to work hard and improve. Much like his days in high school, Golson is handling a high profile position with maturity.
"We're not down about it at all," Golson said. "I'm a little down obviously because of my poor performance, but I'm not going to linger upon this and go back to the drawing board and do better in the next two weeks against Miami."
