Swoopes ran for a touchdown in the second quarter, then pounded Notre Dame with two more in overtime. This could change by next week, and the way the off-season can totally change everything with players graduating or going to the National Football League and recruiting, it will definitely be a different story next year when the Longhorns are either not as fun, or, more likely, even better.
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“He told me I’d take the first snap for sure and then he kind of congratulated me on fighting through the process and encouraged me to maintain the same mind-set and assured me I’d be the guy on Saturday”, Kizer said.
“It was a great team win for us”, Texas coach Charlie Strong said of the Notre Dame game. That means Kizer accounted for 88 percent of Notre Dame’s total yardage on the night, while being involved in every touchdown.
“We still have two very good quarterbacks”, Kelly said.
“I haven’t sat down and talked with to either one of them, so before we do that we don’t have any plans to make any decisions”, he said. Both of them came in virtual back-to-back fashion, with a 68-yard grab by Jerrod Heard and the 72-yard touchdown reception to John Burt on the third quarter’s second play sandwiched around a half-ending kneel down.
“You can’t let your teammates down and you can’t let yourself down”, Kelly said. “There’s no real timeline when you start to expect somebody to clear”. While he did play well in the game against Notre Dame, his performance could easily be attributed to the swiss cheese defense the Fighting Irish displayed. “So I really think all of that is about your attitude and how you accept that role and how it’s embraced”.
“It’s coming home, all the way to Austin, Texas, baby!” Seven other pass plays of 10 yards or more were part of the 280 yards collected on the night. And with graduate student safety Avery Sebastian going through the concussion protocol, the secondary looks vulnerable.
“First of all, it’s about your attitude, and your attitude has to be such that whoever the No. 2 is, whether he’s the No. 2 quarterback or the No. 2 running back, you’re one play away from being in there”, Kelly said. “And quite frankly, as a head coach, I never think of it as one side of the ball”. “We plan on having two really good quarterbacks the rest of the year”. We have to coach better. “We’ve got to play better, and we’ll continue to do that”. “I don’t know what (Kelly) is planning heading forward”.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, center, watches as his players run off the field during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in Austin, Texas. Kelly is aware of the criticism but said he has no doubt in VanGorder’s ability.
It marked just the eighth time Notre Dame has given up 50 points, all of them losses.
“What really happened in the Texas game was you had the offense that had a chance to win the game. You being the player that you are, you’re going to make something good happen instead of trying to manufacture something”.
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“We’ll be back up here, probably tomorrow, watching film on UTEP and getting ready for the next game”, junior linebacker Naashon Hughes said on Sunday. And I would say fair enough. So we had a lot of young guys that got their first start.
