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When Notre Dame meets Alabama in the BCS Championship Game, sophomore Everett Golson will be the undisputed leader at quarterback for the Irish. That wasn't always the case this season, but Golson's performance against Oklahoma raised his play to a new level.
In six games before the Fighting Irish's game against the Sooners, Golson had completed 58.5 percent of his passes for 965 yards, four touchdowns and thrown three interceptions, and he had 42 rushes for 81 yards and two scores. While his numbers against Oklahoma weren't outstanding -- 13 of 25 for 177 yards, 64 rushing yards and one touchdown on 11 carries -- his ability to lead Notre Dame to a 30-13 victory increased his confidence.
In four games since the win over the Sooners, Golson has completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 990 yards, seven touchdowns and two thrown interceptions. He's rushed 36 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns during that span.
Notre Dame is currently a 9½-point underdog against Alabama, but Golson believes in himself and his teammates:
"I'm very confident not only with myself but with the supporting cast of my teammates," Golson said. "You talk about our team this year, we've always been set as the underdog. And going in to it, nobody would've ever saw us at this point.
"But we worked our way up from the bottom, and that just shows great resilience from us and great unity from us. Going in with a great group of guys that I do have does give me a great amount of confidence."