Everett Golson's college career has ended a lot different than most expected.
Florida State announced after Saturday's practice that Golson did not make the trip for the Peach Bowl due to personal reasons. The ninth-ranked Seminoles (10-2) had their first practice in Atlanta in preparation for the Dec. 31 game against No. 14 Houston (12-1).
Golson also missed last week's practices on campus as the ninth-ranked Seminoles (10-2) returned to the field following finals. Coach Jimbo Fisher said at the time it was due to the death of Golson's grandmother.
Saturday's announcement caps a second straight season where Golson struggled down the stretch and lost his starting quarterback job.
After graduating from Notre Dame last May, Golson arrived at Florida State a month later as a graduate transfer. He beat out Sean Maguire for the starting job and won his first six starts, including two games where he threw for over 300 yards.
Things began to unravel though starting in the Oct. 24 loss at Georgia Tech. Golson threw a costly fourth-quarter interception in the end zone. The Yellow Jackets ended up rallying for a 22-16 victory on a blocked field goal on the final play.
Golson missed the Syracuse game the following week due to a concussion and was benched for the Nov. 7 game at Clemson after Maguire looked more consistent with the office.
Following the loss to Clemson, Fisher decided to go back to Golson one last time for the Nov. 14 game against North Carolina State. It backfired as Golson committed three turnovers in a little over a quarter. Maguire came back in and has had control of the offense since.
After not throwing an interception in 210 attempts dating back to last season, Golson had three in 17. He also committed turnovers on four of seven drives, starting with the fourth quarter of the Georgia Tech game.
Golson did play during the second half Nov. 21 against Chattanooga, but that was after the game was well in hand.
Turnovers (14 interceptions, eight fumbles) were also the defining reason why Golson did not start for Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl last year against LSU and why he subsequently transferred.
Golson finishes this season completing 67.1 percent of his passes (147 of 219) for 1,778 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions in nine games. He also leaves college with a 24-7 career record as a starter (17-6 Notre Dame, 7-1 Florida State).
At midseason, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock shared the same opinion as most NFL scouts about Golson — he got himself back into the conversation as a draft prospect but still needed to show more.
In an interview with The Associated Press in late October, Mayock also said something that ended up being foreboding about Golson — "can he continue to not make turnovers and also make the big plays?"
Mayock also added that Golson needed solid games against Clemson and Florida State. By playing in neither along with turnovers and a lack of big plays, Golson finds his draft hopes up in the air.