Feel free to check the scores of the national championship games this century.

No, offense wins championships . . . which is a big reason why SEC teams and FSU have been winning national championships.

Welcome to the 21st century.

No, defense wins championships. It’s a big reason why the SEC has had a stranglehold on the crystal football.

Now should the game have been so close? No. Golson again couldn’t hold onto the ball when running and threw some late/bad balls. As I said last week, I love his competitive fire, his toughness, his willingness to take a big hit and pop right back up and the pure talent he has. What I continue to see from him though is hesitation, especially after he has made some mistakes or gotten pressured continually in a game. He sees that a receiver is going to come open, and you can even see his body undulate like he subconsciously wants to make the throw. But he waits an extra second until the receiver makes the cut and delivers the ball late or then pulls it down and goes to his later reads or runs. If you need some context here, think of Eli Manning. If you watched the Eagles game last night, he became skittish because the center couldn’t plug the middle of the line and pressure was coming right up the gut. So even when Eli had time, his feet weren’t set properly and he hesitated. This is some of what Golson is dealing with as well due to the line not keeping proper protection right up the gut on passing downs. So it isn’t all just on Golson. If Golson doesn’t spot NC 14 points right off the bat due to turnovers, however, the game would probably have played out a bit more comfortably in our favor. But give the offense credit for continuing to produce and bail out a shoddy performance on defense.

When an offense scores as many points as ours did on Saturday, the blame for a close game rests squarely on the shoulders of the defense. Our defense struggled against an offense in NC that was very multiple. Their QB was on target with his arm, was good with his feet and was a load to tackle. Remember, if you want to talk about dumb coaching, the NC coach was rotating this QB with another one who was a drop back turnover machine. What was he thinking? When you have a QB who can throw and run it makes the defense have to play a very smart game and stay in their assignments. We have a young, athletic defense who didn’t always do that. We also, for some reason, had a tough time tackling. Not sure why that was, but I’m going to guess that the multiple looks had our guys hesitating a step, thinking too much before reacting. This was a very, very good primer before heading to FSU. I am actually really glad that we faced NC’s offense and were able to get a primer for a mobile quarterback who can throw right before the big showdown.

This next weekend, we will see another QB who can run the ball. Winston actually doesn’t throw lasers if you watch his games, having more of a Tebow-esque arc on the ball. What he does have is good timing (leads his receivers right under the balls that hit softly in their hands) and receivers who will fight for the ball. He is also a killer when he runs the ball because you have to respect the pass so much and he is very athletic. If ND plays a clean game in the turnover department this game will be a barn burner. If we lose the turnover battle, we most likely get beat. Golson and Winston are both unbeaten in the regular season as starters. One of those streaks will end Saturday. Here’s hoping it is our guy, the one who also showed the character to sit out the year, come back to school, and finish what he started.

Go Irish!

Not really. Offense wins championships . . . welcome to the 21st century.