With offense in gear, Notre Dame is double trouble
Combined
with a stellar defense, Irish likely to stay in national title picture
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Theo Riddick runs the ball against Oklahoma. (Wesley
Hitt/Getty Photo / October 28, 2012)
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By Brian Hamilton, Chicago
Tribune reporter
8:30 p.m. CDT, October 28, 2012
Late
Saturday night, shortly after his eyebrows rose at the prospect of postgame
barbecue, Manti Te'o shuffled through a crowd and literally rubbed shoulders
with Notre Dame's other man of this midnight hour, Everett Golson. One force
that brought the Irish here, and one that can lift them where they want to go.
"Hey, good job, Five," Te'o said, citing Golson's jersey number.
"Appreciate it," Golson replied.
This was Everett Golson Appreciation Night all right, as everyone saw Notre Dame's national title aspirations fully form around a captivating new element — an eruptive quarterback leading a quality offense capable of producing enough points and big moments to, perhaps, sway voters should it come to evaluating a parade of unbeatens.
As it is, the Irish jumped two spots to No. 3 in the BCS standings unveiled Sunday. Should Alabama and Oregon win out, it likely won't matter if anyone else does likewise. But if this becomes a pageant, if the human polls start arbitrating a muddle of contenders, it will help to be a pretty shimmering one.
Notre Dame's defense is glitzy in its own way. But then add a consistently sparkly offense, like one that churns out 30 points and healthy 17-point wins as it did against Oklahoma, and you have elite balance and mouth-watering aesthetics for voters. And that means Golson must deliver four more times what he delivered in Norman.
"The reality of it is, it's clear you want to win your games and you want to win them in convincing fashion," Irish coach Brian Kelly said Sunday. "But there's nothing we do practically that will emphasize that in any way."
That's true, and also sort of isn't. Bringing along a live wire like Golson is a way to expand victory margins and command attention. Over the last few weeks — including one he sat out recovering from a concussion — Golson's dedication to details and fundamental work and being a more assertive voice apparently soared.
"My goal coming back after missing the BYU game was to come in and really try to lead this team," said Golson, who passed for 177 yards and ran for 64 against the Sooners. "Starting on Tuesday, when we had practice, that was what was driving me."
Or as Kelly put it: "He just flat-out made a decision that this coaching is going to help me, and I'm going to take it to heart."
So you get the defense, you get the snarly ground game, and now you get the flash-bulb potential of a Golson scramble or 50-yard bomb. You get a complete, glistening package.
"The mental development has been really good," Kelly said. "If we continue to go that way, it's going to give us an offense that's going to be difficult to defend because we'll have great balance. That's what we're trying to get with Everett in there."
No, Notre Dame probably can't reach Kansas State/Collin Klein levels of offensive rump-whippery. Kelly said he's not giving Golson more as much as honing what Golson already knows. So, in that contrast of unbeatens separated by 59 points in the coaches' poll, offense is no Ad: ND.
But given the Irish's superlatives elsewhere, an activated Golson and an actualized offense complicate the overall argument. Percussive statements are not intermittent but the norm. Basically, it makes Notre Dame's undefeated record look like a better undefeated record.
Maybe it won't matter, given the caprices of the regular season and voters. But better to strafe than be sorry, infusing more possibility to a fall already bursting with it.
"He's a leader," receiver T.J. Jones said of Golson. "He's learning how to hold this offense together."
bchamilton@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribHamilton
"Hey, good job, Five," Te'o said, citing Golson's jersey number.
"Appreciate it," Golson replied.
This was Everett Golson Appreciation Night all right, as everyone saw Notre Dame's national title aspirations fully form around a captivating new element — an eruptive quarterback leading a quality offense capable of producing enough points and big moments to, perhaps, sway voters should it come to evaluating a parade of unbeatens.
As it is, the Irish jumped two spots to No. 3 in the BCS standings unveiled Sunday. Should Alabama and Oregon win out, it likely won't matter if anyone else does likewise. But if this becomes a pageant, if the human polls start arbitrating a muddle of contenders, it will help to be a pretty shimmering one.
Notre Dame's defense is glitzy in its own way. But then add a consistently sparkly offense, like one that churns out 30 points and healthy 17-point wins as it did against Oklahoma, and you have elite balance and mouth-watering aesthetics for voters. And that means Golson must deliver four more times what he delivered in Norman.
"The reality of it is, it's clear you want to win your games and you want to win them in convincing fashion," Irish coach Brian Kelly said Sunday. "But there's nothing we do practically that will emphasize that in any way."
That's true, and also sort of isn't. Bringing along a live wire like Golson is a way to expand victory margins and command attention. Over the last few weeks — including one he sat out recovering from a concussion — Golson's dedication to details and fundamental work and being a more assertive voice apparently soared.
"My goal coming back after missing the BYU game was to come in and really try to lead this team," said Golson, who passed for 177 yards and ran for 64 against the Sooners. "Starting on Tuesday, when we had practice, that was what was driving me."
Or as Kelly put it: "He just flat-out made a decision that this coaching is going to help me, and I'm going to take it to heart."
So you get the defense, you get the snarly ground game, and now you get the flash-bulb potential of a Golson scramble or 50-yard bomb. You get a complete, glistening package.
"The mental development has been really good," Kelly said. "If we continue to go that way, it's going to give us an offense that's going to be difficult to defend because we'll have great balance. That's what we're trying to get with Everett in there."
No, Notre Dame probably can't reach Kansas State/Collin Klein levels of offensive rump-whippery. Kelly said he's not giving Golson more as much as honing what Golson already knows. So, in that contrast of unbeatens separated by 59 points in the coaches' poll, offense is no Ad: ND.
But given the Irish's superlatives elsewhere, an activated Golson and an actualized offense complicate the overall argument. Percussive statements are not intermittent but the norm. Basically, it makes Notre Dame's undefeated record look like a better undefeated record.
Maybe it won't matter, given the caprices of the regular season and voters. But better to strafe than be sorry, infusing more possibility to a fall already bursting with it.
"He's a leader," receiver T.J. Jones said of Golson. "He's learning how to hold this offense together."
bchamilton@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribHamilton
Pittsburgh
Steelers shut down Washington Redskins and Robert Griffin III
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers watched opponents panic when preparing for Robert Griffin IIIand vowed not to suffer the same identity
crisis.
"We didn't want to get too
creative," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "We just
wanted to play the way we know how."
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Besides, why mess with a good thing?
Wearing throwback jerseys that made them
resemble hulking bumblebees, the Steelers swarmed Washington's
precocious star in a 27-12 victory on Sunday.
Griffin completed just 16 of 34 passes for 177
yards and a score while managing 8 yards rushing, finding little room to
showcase his brilliance against a unit used to having its way when a youngster
is calling plays in the other huddle.
The Steelers (4-3) improved to 14-1
against rookie quarterbacks since 2004, doing to Griffin what they've done to
the likes of Eli Manning and Joe Flacco.
"It is very frustrating," Griffin
said. "You want to go out, be successful, execute plays and have
everything work for you and then when you have a day like today when you have
almost nothing work for you."
Griffin got little help from his receivers.
The Redskins (3-5) dropped 10
passes and the Steelers kept the NFL's top
rushing team under wraps despite playing without injured safety Troy Polamalu.
Washington ran for a season-low 86 yards while
Griffin's longest run came on a seven-yard sprint in the first quarter.
"He wasn't running all over the
place," Pittsburgh linebacker Larry Foote said. "The front
seven got challenged by (Steelers coach) Mike (Tomlin)
all week and they delivered."
Ben Roethlisberger had no such issues against Washington's depleted defense,
throwing for 222 yards and three touchdowns as the Steelers won consecutive games
for the first time this season.
"It's fun having so many weapons and
being able to throw to anybody," said Roethlisberger, who spread 24
completions to nine different receivers.
Jonathan Dwyer added 107 yards
rushing in his second NFL start while Heath Miller caught four passes for
46 yards and his sixth touchdown of the season. Pittsburgh scored on its first
four possessions to take control early and had little trouble moving above
.500.
Suddenly, the team that looked sluggish during
early losses to Oakland and Tennessee appears to be its normal, dangerous self
in a wide-open AFC.
"This is our story and we're writing
it," Foote said.
Something Griffin is trying to do in the
nation's capital. The second overall pick in last April's draft has taken the
league by storm, his dazzling playmaking turning the moribund Redskins into one of the
league's more compelling teams.
It all came to a crashing halt on a wet, raw
day at Heinz Field.
Washington did its best to create space for
Griffin, at one point sending him out as a wide receiver. He sprinted down the
sideline but was flagged for pass interference while trying to grab Josh Morgan's
wobbly pass, another mistake by the Redskins on an afternoon full
of them.
"I guess it was just a bad day for
us," Washington wide receiver Leonard Hankerson said. "We didn't make those plays."
Even a pregame surprise from veteran
linebacker London Fletcher didn't help. Fletcher overcame head and hamstring issues to play
in his 232nd consecutive game, the longest active streak in the NFL. His
presence, however, did little to buoy Washington's floundering defense against
the balancedSteelers.
Roethlisberger continued to thrive in new
offensive coordinator Todd Haley's system while Dwyer, starting in place of injured Rashard Mendenhall, became the first Steelers running back to top
100 yards in consecutive games in four years.
Nicknamed "the minivan" by former Steelers wide receiver Hines
Ward, Dwyer ripped off a series of runs through gaping holes that kept the Redskins off-balance.
"I was just going off of how (the
offensive line) was playing," Dwyer said. "They were playing physical
so I brought my physicality to the game as well."
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Pittsburgh wasted little time putting the pressure
on, racing to a 20-6 halftime lead. Each drive seemed to follow the same
pattern. Dwyer would soften up the middle of the Washington defense by bulling
up the gut and Roethlisberger would spread the ball to anyone willing to catch
it.
He hit little-used Leonard Pope for his first
touchdown of the game and found Miller for a 7-yard score. When Roethlisberger
flipped the ball to Will Johnson from a yard out midway
through the third quarter to make it 27-9, the Steelerswere in complete command.
Washington mustered little the rest of the way
and eventually lost its composure.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall was ejected in the
fourth quarter after getting in the face of an official, and Griffin ended the
day with a simple kneel down on theRedskins' last possession, eager to get out of the rain and
away from the worst performance of his short career.
"We lost the game, that's all that
matter," Griffin said. "You're judged by wins and losses. I feel as
bad as anyone else in that locker room right now."
NOTES: Washington TE Chris Cooley, re-signed by the team last week after Fred Davis
was lost for the season with a torn Achilles, played sporadically. He did not
catch a pass but was targeted once by Griffin ... The Steelers improved to 400-253-2
since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the most by any NFL franchise during that
span ... Pittsburgh S Ryan Clark left in the third
quarter with a concussion and did not return.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
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