Dan Wolken

USA TODAY Sports

TEMPE, Ariz. — Brian Kelly was gesticulating, his tone growing terse, the intensity of each word rising as he ran what he had just witnessed back through his mind. He argued with a reporter over the use of the word "flat" to describe how his team started the game Saturday. He snapped back when someone tried to suggest the mountain of turnovers that cost No. 8 Notre Dame any legitimate chance at its best victory of the season weren't all the fault of quarterback Everett Golson.

"Why aren't they all on Golson?" Kelly said, before eventually agreeing among the four interceptions he threw, two were aided and abetted by teammates' mistakes.

"Our guys were ready to play and you can't play sloppy like that," Kelly said. "It's ridiculous."

College Football Playoff hopes are over for Notre Dame after a 55-31 loss to No. 12 Arizona State, and because that illusion is now officially out of the way, there is no time to waste getting to the question that will define Kelly's tenure for the foreseeable future.

Was the meltdown that happened in the first half here Saturday an anomaly that can be explained away and forgotten when the rest of Notre Dame's talent grows up? Or, in the 21st game of Golson's career, is there now cause for much deeper concern?

Everything in Kelly's body language, and much of what he said Saturday, would indicate he is at least now wondering himself whether it's the latter.

To be clear: There is no quarterback controversy at Notre Dame because Golson gives the Fighting Irish its best chance to win. Kelly was adamant about that, saying he never considered a quarterback change even after Golson inexcusably fumbled to set up Arizona State's first touchdown, threw an interception on the next series, then tossed another that happened, Kelly said, because Golson didn't have the right read at the line of scrimmage and threw a ball that should have been handed off.

But Kelly's frustration seemed deeper. Over and over, he kept repeating that Arizona State ran "pretty standard stuff" on defense, that the Sun Devils (8-1) did nothing Notre Dame (7-2) hadn't seen on film, faced when the teams played last season or worked on all week.

Translation: This one was on Golson.

"There were absolutely no changes in what they did, which makes it even more maddening and frustrating," Kelly said. "I guess that's what I'm most upset about because we could've moved the ball today effectively. It's one of those deals where you take one step forward and two steps back and he comes back in the second half and does some really good things. He's got to strive for consistency. If he plays clean in the first half, who knows where we'd be right now."

Golson, to his credit, didn't shirk responsibility for any of the four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Some of the errors weren't entirely his fault — his first interception, for instance, was tipped by a defensive end that his tackle was supposed to cut down — but others were egregious. His first fumble, which gave the ball to Arizona State on the 13-yard line and pretty much established the tenor of the first half, was unacceptable for a player of Golson's experience.

"Basically, I honestly think it's all on me really," Golson said. "When you play with fire as much as I did today, you're going to get burnt eventually, so I've got to obviously be better, clean up a lot in practice and I think that's where it really starts, is in practice."

The problem is, this isn't a new trend. Golson has been sloppy with the ball much of the season, with five fumbles and four interceptions in the three games leading up to Florida State — where he was mostly tremendous — and six more turnovers the past two weeks.

Kelly seemed exasperated when he was pressed on how Notre Dame can help him protect the ball better.

"We've been working with him. I mean, I don't know," Kelly said. "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, and he knows it."



In the grand scheme of things, Golson is still a young player. He is much more dynamic than he was in 2012 when he played more like a game manager for the Notre Dame team that got to the BCS championship game.

But it's also true that Notre Dame is significantly invested in Golson taking the next step as a quarterback who can carry a team to that playoff level.

For everything he's done this season — and throwing for 446 yards at Arizona State is impressive on some level — this is still a Notre Dame team whose best win came against Stanford and will not be taken seriously next season, either, until it beats an elite opponent. And until Golson shows he can beat an elite opponent.

"It's definitely something we've got to clean up, understanding what we're trying to do, just trusting what the coaches are doing and understanding what they want," Golson said. "I guess there was times I thought that was the right read or that was probably one of the better plays or something like that and it's not what they wanted, obviously. We've just got to clean it up."

Leaving this mess at Sun Devil Stadium, though, is something Notre Dame can't have back. The issue now is what direction it takes the Fighting Irish in future years with more experienced rosters and theoretically a more grown-up quarterback who won't make so many mistakes on a big stage. As of Saturday's disaster, it has never been more in question whether that will actually be the case.

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