It's Time We Gave Golson Some Credit

Saturday night was in one word: electric. The boys welcomed in neck-tie-coached rival Miami and continued to dismantle the Hurricanes in front of a stadium full of drunken, rampaging Seminole fans. The game was exciting throughout, and Dalvin Cook put his name in the hat for the Heisman race with his second game of the season with 200+ yards. The unsung hero of this game, however, was 5th-year senior transfer quarterback Everett Golson.

Seminole fans have been on him all season about the lack of production out of he and Jimbo's offense, but Saturday night, he delivered on the biggest stage so far this season. Despite the offense stalling in certain situations, Golson did everything that was asked of him. He found a rhythm on the first drive and proceeded to complete his first nine passes including the flawless option play that sprung Cook for a 74-yard touchdown. Throughout the game he was delivering the ball to the open man, spinning out of sacks, and keeping the ball safe from defenders.

His biggest play likely came on the 3rd and 16 pass across the middle to Bobo Wilson with a defender right in his face. It extended the drive that eventually led to a touchdown, taking the lead back from Miami who had all of the momentum after going ahead for the first time in the game. Golson went 3 of 4 on that drive, likely the most crucial drive of the game.

Number six finished with 25/33 for 291 yards, a touchdown and - OH - NO TURNOVERS. The knock on Golson coming in was that he was a turnover machine, much like Jameis was last year. Only he didn't have Jameis' talent, the ability to come back from these deep holes that we anticipated he would dig us in. Golson hasn't had to do that because through the first five games, he has not turned it over a single time. In fact, Florida State has only fumbled the ball twice - both on punts. He is one of four Division I quarterbacks that hasn't thrown a pick (minimum 100 attempts).

Not only has he not turned it over, he has done everything we have asked him to. He made the throws, the checks at the line, and the right decisions over and over again this weekend. Saturday night, if we converted a few more red zone trips into touchdowns and Tyler Hunter wasn't on this team, we would have won by roughly four or five scores. Now that Jimbo has opened up the playbook and is "lettin' the huntin' dogs free" on offense, we are seeing what Everett and this group are capable of - and it's very exciting.

So let's sit back and finally be thankful for this Notre Dame transfer. He's quick and slippery, he's decisive and accurate, and he's not afraid of the bright lights. If the receivers around him decide they want to be consistent in catching the ball, we could be in for a very special season.

Golson now has 1,077 yards, 8 touchdowns and 0 turnovers, and has completed 66.9% of his passes through 5 games in 2015.

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