Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/531612
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 137 having sophomore right guard Steve Elmer and fifth-year senior right tackle Christian Lombard switch positions. Sept. 27 — Notre Dame improved to 4-0 with a 31-15 win over Syracuse at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Golson completed 25 consecutive passes, falling one short of tying the NCAA record. He also committed his first four turnovers of the season in this contest, foreshadow- ing the issues that would plague the remainder of his Notre Dame career. Oct. 4 — On fourth-and-11 from the 23 with 1:01 re- maining, Golson found senior tight end Ben Koyack in the corner of the end zone for a thrilling game-winning score in Notre Dame's 17-14 win versus Stanford to improve to 5-0 on the season. Oct. 5 — Notre Dame released a statement to announce that only individual players would be notified of the re- sults of the academic investigation. Two days later, Kelly said he had been told that decisions would be rendered "imminently." Oct. 10 — Russell announced on Instagram that he would miss the remainder of the season. He and Williams were reinstated by Notre Dame in June, while Moore's eligibility had expired, Daniels passed up a fifth season for the NFL Draft (he signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent) and Hardy enrolled at Bowl- ing Green. Oct. 11 — After allowing a mere 12 points per game in its first five games, Notre Dame's defense struggled with the up-tempo nature of North Carolina's offense, though the Irish survived 50-43. A controversial roughing-the -snapper penalty called against the Tar Heels on an Irish punt in the third quarter extended the drive and put Notre Dame ahead for good. Oct. 18 — For a moment, it appeared Notre Dame had scored a go-ahead and likely game-winning touchdown to snap No. 2 Florida State's 22-game winning streak and improve to 7-0. But an offensive pass interference call negated the score, and the Irish drive ultimately ended in an interception on fourth-and-goal from the 18, allowing the Seminoles to prevail 31-27. Oct. 27 — Hardy returned to the practice field. He was the only one of the five suspended players to compete for Notre Dame in 2014. Nov. 1 — Notre Dame bounced back from the deflating loss at Florida State two weeks prior with a 49-39 win over Navy at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. However, the Irish defense suffered a major setback when middle linebacker Joe Schmidt went down with a severe and season-ending ankle injury. Nov. 8 — Arizona State jumped ahead 34-3 at Sun Devil Stadium before the Irish rattled off four straight touch- downs to narrow the deficit to 34-31 with 6:37 remaining. Arizona State, however, scored 21 unanswered points in the closing minutes to finish an emphatic 55-31 win over the Irish. Golson committed five turnovers in the loss. Nov. 15 — Notre Dame's slide continued with its third loss in four games, this time to a 3-6 Northwestern team at home. The Irish led 40-29 in the fourth quarter when Kelly puzzlingly decided to go for a two-point conversion. The attempt failed, allowing the Wildcats to force overtime with a touchdown, two-point conversion and field goal, before winning 43-40. Nov. 22 — The Irish lost at home for the second con- secutive week, this time to Bobby Petrino's Louisville Cardinals, 31-28. Although Golson only committed only one turnover, Notre Dame's kicking woes continued. Se- nior Kyle Brindza missed a 32-yard field goal in the final minutes that might have forced overtime. Nov. 23 — Notre Dame begins Campus Crossroads con- struction, a $400-million project the university says will integrate academic and athletic endeavors at the college. Nov. 29 — Notre Dame's season reached its nadir with a 49-14 blowout loss at USC to mark a fourth consecutive loss and fifth in six games to finish the regular season 7-5. USC piled up 522 yards against a depleted Irish defense, while Trojan quarterback Cody Kessler became the first quarterback to toss six touchdown passes against Notre Dame. With the Irish trailing by 35 late in the first half, Kelly replaced Golson with sophomore Malik Zaire, who threw for 170 yards and rushed for a score. Dec. 12 — Notre Dame held "The Echoes," the annual end-of-year awards banquet. Schmidt took home Mono- gram Club MVP honors. Sophomore wide receiver Will Fuller was named offensive MVP, and linebacker Jaylon Smith earned defensive MVP honors. Dec. 29 — Kelly announced Zaire as the starter for the Music City Bowl against LSU, but did indicate that Golson Notre Dame's 31-28 win over LSU in the Music City Bowl Dec. 30 gave the program bowl victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time in two decades. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA "We've been working with him. Sooner or later, he's got to take it on himself to take care of the football. I don't know what else to do. We're at that point now where it hurt us in the game, obviously. He knows it." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON QUARTERBACK EVERETT GOLSON'S TURNOVER ISSUES FOLLOWING THE 55-31 LOSS TO ARIZONA STATE NOV. 8