Freshman quarterback DeShone Kizer took over for Notre Dame after Malik Zaire left the game with a fractured ankle. Kizer finished with two touchdowns on the day, including a 39-yard pass to Will Fuller that gave the Irish the win. Damien Dennis/The Pit
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] last minute pass to Will Fuller may have lifted Notre Dame to a 34-27 win over Virginia Saturday evening, but the Fighting Irish may have lost anyway.
During the third quarter, quarterback Malik Zaire was tackled by Virginia defenders while running the ball. The swarm of defenders got under Zaire and caused him to roll his ankle on the tackle, causing a fracture. Zaire was stretchered off the field and Head Coach Brian Kelly later confirmed that Zaire would be out for the season.
Freshman DeShone Kizer stepped in for the injured Zaire, and with 12 seconds remaining on the clock, he hooked up with Fuller for a 39-yard touchdown pass. It was Kizer’s second touchdown of the day – and his college career – after a fake field goal in he first quarter.
“Certainly DeShone Kizer doesn’t have the experience that Malik has, but we can run our offense through DeShone,” Kelly said after the game. “He has a lot of weapons around him and we saw that tonight. He has a running back and receivers. We just have to balance the offense and do the things that he is capable of doing.”
Kelly added that it’s unfortunate, but teams have to overcome injuries and find a way to win.
“Not much went through my mind, it was kind of funny,” Kizer said. “I go to bed the night before a game preparing for that to happen and I just kind of blanked. It was time to play football and that’s the only way I can look at it. I wasn’t going to be the guy to come in and lose a game for the Irish. I prepare way too much for me not to give my all during a game.”
Virginia – heavy underdogs against the ninth-ranked team in the country – brought the fight to the Irish at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. After falling behind 12-0 entering the second, quarterback Matt Johns connected with Evan Butts for a two-yard touchdown pass after a 75-yard drive. The Cavaliers took the lead before the half when Johns connected with a receiver again, this time with Keeon Johnson for 42 yards.
“That’s a gutsy group of guys in there that went toe-to-toe for a while and had a chance to win one of the biggest games in a long time. It got away from us,” Virginia coach Mike London said. “We’ve played two really good football teams. The goal was to get better going from the first game to the second game and I believe we did that.”
Virginia held the lead at 27-26 with under two minutes remaining on the clock before Kizer found Fuller for the game winning touchdown.
“We didn’t have the proper rush lane. For whatever reason, probably miscommunication, the receiver got behind us,” London said. “He made a great catch and it was a great play for them.”
“We had a double move out there,” Kelly explained. “As you know, we ran a quick slant on third down previously that the corner came up and defended quite well, so we ran a double move off of that. DeShone Kizer waited for that, stepped up, and connected with (Will) Fuller.”
Virginia held the Irish to 0-for-10 on third down conversions in the contest, a fact that nearly cost the Irish a game they were heavily favored to win.
“We were largely ineffective in our short yardage run game. There are a number of reasons for it. There were some miscues. Some credit goes to Virginia. I thought they did a good job of defending us on third and short, but it is unacceptable to be that ineffective on third downs,” Kelly said.
Kizer finished 8-for-12 with 92 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Zaire left the game 7-for-18 with 115 yards and a touchdown. Opposite the Irish, Johns finished 26-for-38 with 289 yards and a pair of scoring passes.
Running back C.J. Prosise – an Irish player originally from Virginia – carried the ball for 155 yards and a touchdown.
“At this point, I feel like I can do anything in the position. I have been very comfortable in it now,” Prosise said. “At first it was hard moving into something new, but now I think I’ve got what I need to succeed in the position.”
Coach Kelly talked about the resolve of his team, despite the injuries the Irish are up against.
“It is just a good group of guys that continued to play. They never let down,” Kelly said. “They never got to that point where they didn’t believe they could win. I’m proud of them.”
