Notre Dame's Everett Golson quarterbacked the losing team in the Irish's game at Florida State, but his Heisman hopes actually might have improved.
Golson threw for 313 yards and three TDs and also rushed for 33 yards against FSU's talent-laden defense. But what looked like a fourth TD pass -- on a fourth-and-goal from the 3 with 13 seconds left -- was waved off because of offensive interference, and FSU prevailed 31-27.
Golson guided the Irish to a 470-yard night, but he did throw two interceptions, giving him 11 turnovers in the past four games. Still, he played at a high level almost all night in his personal duel with FSU quarterback Jameis Winston.
Golson completed 31 of 52 passes; he set a career high in attempts (the previous high was 43 against Stanford two weeks ago), and the 31 completions were one shy of his career high, set earlier this season in a win over Syracuse. It was his third 300-yard game of the season and the fourth of his career.
He has thrown 18 TD passes this season for the Irish (6-1); that's already tied for the seventh-most in a season in school history. Golson is on a 31-TD pace during the regular season, which would be third-most in school history.
He also has thrown for 1,996 yards and seems well on his way to becoming just the third quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. Quinn (2005 and '06) and Jimmy Clausen (2008 and '09) each did it twice.
The loss doesn't necessarily end the Irish's playoff hopes; their fate obviously is tied to how other teams fare, but the Irish have games left against Arizona State, Louisville and USC -- contests that if they win would give them a strong resume.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
