FSU, Golson preventing turnovers
TALLAHASSEE — Everett Golson lived on the edge last season while at Notre Dame.
The quarterback tried to carry his offense, often taking the high risks that came with improvising too much or trying to make plays he wasn’t comfortable making. He gambled, eventually leading to his benching by the end of the year.
FSU’s Jameis Winston faced a similar scenario in which he often forced throws and did too much to compensate for a cast of players that were not at the same level he had the previous season when he won the Heisman Trophy.
In each case, turnovers piled up for the signal callers.
No player in the country was responsible for more turnovers in 2014 than Golson, who had 22. No Power 5 team had more total turnovers than FSU, which had 32.
For those reasons, Golson transferring to FSU this offseason had the potential to result in a disastrous combination in terms of protecting the football.
But No. 9 FSU (6-0, 4-0 ACC) leads the country with just one turnover — and none on offense — heading into Saturday’s 7 p.m. road contest against Georgia Tech (2-5, 0-4 ACC).
The Seminoles are the only team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II and Division III levels recognized by the NCAA without a turnover on offense this season.
Golson, the same player who was a turnover machine in 2014, has none this season.
“It’s all about game management with him,” said FSU running back Dalvin Cook, who had his own issues with fumbles last season. “Last year, he had some turnover problems and he fixed it this year. That was his main goal. He refocused himself. … He just tries to eliminate things and make the best decisions and right now he’s making the best decisions for the team.”
The turnaround is almost unfathomable. How does an offense that lost the ball almost more than any other team the previous year inherit the most turnover-prone player in the country and then proceed to never turn the ball over on offense?
Turnovers can be the by-product of many different variables: scheme, tendency, situations and sometimes just luck.
Bill Connelly of metric-based FootballStudyHall.com keeps track of turnovers for each team around the nation, and aim to quantify how much of success or failure holding onto the football is due to luck. For example, teams normally record an interception once for every three-to-four times a defender touches the football in the air. Recovering a fumble is normally a 50-50 proposition, according to Connelly’s research.
“Golson did lose around eight of 12 fumbles and that was a little bit unlucky,” Connelly said.
“… What we saw last year was that Everett Golson knew very early on that if his team was going to make a play, it would have to be him making it. He didn’t have a very good run game. He was throwing a lot on secondor third-and long, and those situations are more turnover prone and he seemed to be playing on the edge of his abilities to make plays.
“So he was making big plays and he was also screwing up more. … This year, he has a better 10 guys around him, which has allowed him to play more in control than what he did last year.”
Of course, some of that is by design.
Cook, for instance, said he “went back to the lab” to fix the way he handled the ball after committing two costly fumbles in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.
Golson’s fix is much more drastic, and thus much more complex. The senior only had 11 passes broken up this season, meaning he isn’t giving opponents the opportunity to regularly make plays on the football. He has gotten a little lucky, however, and should have roughly two interceptions based on Connelly’s projections.
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher has tinkered his scheme, regularly dialing up more screens while asking for Golson to do less; Golson’s passes have traveled just an average of 4.48 yards through the air in the past two games, nearly four yards less than his first four contests, according to ESPN.
Knowing the strength of his team is the defense and rushing attack, Fisher has opted to lean less on Golson while stressing the importance for him to embrace the concept of becoming a “game manager.” The results are telling. “He’s respecting the game, not respecting the ball, but he’s respecting the game,” Fisher said of Golson.
“If you do things right, this game is going to reward you. Take shortcuts, it’ll bite you right in the tail. And he’s respecting the game.”