Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly didn't shrink away from delivering a harsh truth to the media on Saturday - starting quarterback Everett' Golson's four interceptions are what sank the Irish in a 55-34 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Kelly pulled no punches laying the blame at Golson's feet, citing the QB's lack of "consistency" and inability to play "clean in the first half" as the daggers which cost the Irish both the game and a chance at the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Golson, to his credit, agreed with his coach.
"Basically, I honestly think it's all on me really," Golson said, via Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports. "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."
Despite all the great things Golson has done for the team this season (and the fact that he almost led the Irish all the way back in front of a hostile crowd in Tempe), Golson knows his mistakes have proved costly in regards to the team's ultimate aims.
"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."
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