Experienced O-line aiding Notre Dame's Golson

Notre Dame opened up the playbook for Everett Golson last Saturday against Miami, unleashing the quarterback's athleticism and allowing him to run for the first time this year. The result was 51 yards on six carries for the freshman quarterback, with zone-read plays leading to most of those gains.
It's a play Notre Dame didn't let Golson run in his first four games, but as his ability to read defenses has improved, it has opened the door for the zone-read. Golson, though, doesn't even have 20 quarters of collegiate game action under his belt, so having an experienced offensive line certainly has helped him.
"It takes a lot off my plate, to be honest," Golson said on Saturday. "Going back to seeing those zones and stuff like that, I guess it feels good to me to know that if I didn't see it, they got my back."
Every offensive line acts as a safety net for its quarterback. But having a senior-laden offensive line for a greenhorn quarterback takes on added importance, even if Golson's learning quickly.
"Communicating, anything we can give him is going to help him and it's going to help us and it's going to help the whole offense," tackle Christian Lombard said. "(Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand) always says see a little, see a lot, so if you see something say something and it's going to trickle down to everyone.
"Our combination blocks, calling out linebackers when we got an overloaded box so he can check out of things -- there's tons of different things, I could go on and on, but he's picking up really fast," center Braxston Cave added. "And it's not even us as much now having to tell him anything, and he's making the calls on his own."
Golson played his best game of the season last week against Miami, and that was two weeks after he played his worst game in Notre Dame's win over Michigan. In between was a bye week, and coming off it, Golson hardly looked like the quarterback who threw two interceptions against Michigan.
"I think throughout the course of the game, I never really felt they were throwing something at me that we didn't see or prepare for," Golson said.
Golson credited Notre Dame's coaches for that preparedness, but Cave saw Golson's poise as part of him knowing what to look leading up to games. And while there's only so much Golson can learn without experience, his line is doing its best to fill in the cracks.
"He's picking it up," Cave said. "He's a young guy, but he's learning fast and the more I can do to help him to make his job easier, that's what I have to do. Being a fifth year guy, I've been around, seen every look, and the more I can communicate to him to make his job easier, the better it is."