 Afterwards, Notre Dame went 1–4 that month, culminating in a blowout loss to rival USC in which the Golson was benched early in favor of his backup Malik Zaire.Closing out the season in a bowl game, Golson's teammate Malik Zaire was named the starter in a time-splitting arrangement as the Irish defeated SEC powerhouse LSU (finished 8–5 in 2014) in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl in a close one, 31–28.Golson was 6 of 11 for 90 yards passing in the bowl game, while Zaire threw for 96 yards and rushed for 96 more to defeat Les Miles's Tigers.