How will losing Everett Golson affect Notre Dame's National Title hopes this season?

When news broke that Notre Dame starting quarterback Everett Golson had been suspended for "poor academic judgment," the initial reaction among the fanbase was panic. After hiring coach Brian Kelly and giving him a fairly long leash by university standards, the coach was able to whip his ready-made team into title contenders. Hope ran high throughout the program and its faithful after years of watching from the sidelines.

Kelly started Tommy Rees during the 2011 season, mainly due to a very good freshman performance and in-game experience. But 2011 wasn't so kind to Rees as he suffered through a season of mental mistakes, and more importantly to Kelly's offensive scheme, 14 interceptions. Many were worried that just as the team began building steam, it would fall helplessly back into the void known as irrelevance.

Enter Everett Golson. Kelly rolled the dice on the entire 2012 season by starting Golson. Although he started out a bit shaky, many credit him with guiding a very talented team through an undefeated season and a berth in the BCS National Championship game.

Although the team fell short in the title game, no one was second guessing Kelly's decision to start Golson. But with Golson out of the picture for the upcoming season, do the Irish really have reason to panic? A closer look at the stats of the two quarterbacks may have the answer.

When comparing Golson's 2012 season with Rees' 2011 season, the first thing you might notice is the similarities between the two. Golson threw for 2,405 yards and a 58.8% completion rate while Rees passed for 2,871 yards while finishing the season with a 65.5% completion rate. Some may argue that Rees' 20 touchdown passes trump Golson's 12, unless you add in the 6 rushing scores Golson contributed, which makes their scoring output virtually even.

The argument can also be made that Rees' yardage totals are higher until you add rushing yardage. Golson ran for 298, while Rees, mainly a pocket passer, lost 56 yards. This puts Golson's total yardage at 2,703, while Rees comes in at 2,815, still a negligible difference.

The only difference between the two quarterbacks is their interception totals. Golson recorded only 6 interceptions to Rees' 14, but chances are good that Rees sees the field more clearly now, thanks to Kelly plugging him into the game anytime Golson began to struggle during the 2012 season. If Rees used those opportunities wisely, it's unlikely he throws more than 10 interceptions and could likely throw for more than 3,000 yards this season.

The big question on everyone's mind this preseason has been how badly Notre Dame may suffer without Everett Golson's services. But from what I can see, they're no worse for wear. Sure, Golson could scramble, but he ran mostly when he felt pressure and seldom showed the necessary patience to wait for a play to materialize downfield, so it shouldn't be long before the fans settle in and see what the coaches already see.

Will the Irish return to the Big Game again this year? That's a tall order for most teams, but as we've seen recently, it's not impossible. One thing is for sure, they still have an experienced quarterback on the field to guide them.

- Kevin Hicks

@kevinhicks77

kevin.projectcfb@gmail.com

Everett Golson out at Notre Dame

Everett Golson, who was going into only his sophomore year at Notre Dame, is no longer enrolled in the school. Last year Golson led the Fighting Irish to the National Championship, and an undefeated regular season. This year, he will not play for Brian Kelly's team.

Notre Dame has confirmed that Golson is no longer enrolled there, citing an academic violation.

Notre Dame senior Tommy Rees will take the snaps for the Fighting Irish this upcoming season. Rees isn't a stranger to the starting QB job. He has led Notre Dame to many victories in the past few years, passing for over 4,400 yards and 34 touchdowns.

However, Golson brought a dual-threat aspect to the field that will be missed when Rees takes the reigns as starting quarterback. It will be interesting to see how Notre Dame does with Rees as starter. It will also be interesting to see where Everett Golson finds himself playing next.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

matt.projectcfb@gmail.com

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at USC Trojans Preview

Saturday night in prime time, the #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish will head into Los Angeles Coliseum with two things on their mind. Number one, is beating the USC Trojans. Number two, is if they beat the Trojans, they are pretty much guaranteed to be playing for the National Championship. The last time the Fighting Irish won the National Championship was 1988, so it's something that they have been itching to do for quite sometime.

Although we can't look past the Trojans. USC is normally led by Heisman hopeful quarterback Matt Barkley, but after injuring his arm, Barkley will sit this important game out, and freshman quarterback Max Wittek will take the snaps. Wittek hasn't had much experience, throwing less than 100 yards and only one touchdown. But he has a supporting cast that will definitely make his job at quarterback a little bit easier.

Marqise Lee looks to upset the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Wittek will be looking to another Heisman hopeful in sophomore wideout Marqise Lee. Lee has reeled in 107 catches for 1,605 yards and 14 touchdowns. Lee has made Matt Barkley's job as Trojans' starting quarterback easier, and he'll look to do the same for Max Wittek Saturday night.

But the wideouts don't stop there. Junior wide receiver Robert Woods has also had quite a season, catching the ball 66 times for over 700 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wittek will definitely have some reliable receivers at hand to help him out Saturday night. Although Notre Dame's defense is ranked number one at points allowed, only allowing 10.1 points per game. And another Heisman hopeful, Manti Te'o will be looking to spoil Wittek's hope for an upset of the #1 team.

USC's backfield is also looking rather impressive. Junior running back Silas Redd and senior Curtis McNeal have combined for over 1,300 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. They'll look to make Wittek's day a little easier as well, gaining a lot of yards on the ground and opening up the option to pass it down field, spreading Notre Dame's defense thin.

Notre Dame however, isn't lacking at offense either. They're averaging about 200 yards rushing per game, and they can thank both running backs for that. Senior backs Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood have gained a combined 1,454 yards on the ground and 8 rushing touchdowns.

But the Brian Kelly's team's offense doesn't stop there. They are also equip with sophomore quarterback Everett Golson who has thrown for over 1,900 yards and 11 touchdowns, with only five interceptions thrown. And that's not counting Tommy Rees. Rees has only thrown for 436 yards and two touchdowns, but he's a natural leader that has came into the game and led critical scoring drives. Coach Kelly loves to have the ace up his sleeve that he can pull out if he needs to.

Golson has two wide receives that he's hooked up for for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. Their names are Tyler Eifert and TJ Jones.

Manti Te'o is looking to prove to the skeptics that he
deserves the Heisman hype, and that ND deserves the #1 spot.

On paper, the matchup looks fairly even. USC has the nod in passing yards and points scored per game, while Notre Dame has the better stats in rushing yards and points allowed per game. But without Matt Barkley, the USC Trojans are going to have a hard time defeating the #1 ranked team in the country. There are many skeptics that say Notre Dame isn't as good as a #1 ranked team should be. But Brian Kelly, Everett Golson and of course Manti Te'o beg to differ. With big victories over Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford and Oklahoma, the Fighting Irish feel they deserve every bit of that #1 ranking, and they'll look to prove it Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.

Can USC pull the upset? Stranger things have happened. But like I said, with Barkley out of the game, and with a freshman in as starting QB, it's going to be a tough task. We'll see what happens! Should be interesting.

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle