Notre Dame was in trouble when Virginia scored with 1:54 remaining.
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Malik Zaire left the game in the third quarter, and his backup DeShone Kizer came in and led the Irish to a last-minute victory with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller.
On Saturday against Georgia Tech, Kizer will become Notre Dame’s third starting quarterback – joining Zaire and the departed Everett Golson – in the team’s last five games. “But it is what it is, and we will find a way to put it together so we can win with DeShone Kizer as our starting quarterback”. Sophomore DeShone Kizer delivered the 39-yard touchdown throw. He said Kizers package is geared more toward the pass, but he can run as well.
“We’ve got some growing up to do; there’s no doubt about that”, coach Gus Malzahn said.
“He understands the things that he needs to run our offense, ” he said.
With the momentum on its side, Virginia quickly forced the Irish to punt on the next possession.
The Irish recovered, but the Cavs defense didn’t allow Notre Dame to gain a yard on the next possession.
Johns threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third for Virginia, taking back momentum after Notre Dame opened a 26-14 lead.
Clemson will host Notre Dame in Death Valley on 10/3/15.
Georgia Tech stayed at No. 16 in the coaches poll and climbed one spot to No. 14 in the AP poll after throttling Tulane, 65-10.
“We were largely ineffective in our short yardage run game”. Notre Dame football fans went through a roller coaster of emotions in Saturday’s victory over the Virginia Cavaliers, and that ride did not end on a good note.
Canaan Severin had a huge day with 11 catches and 153 yards. That moxie may have been surprising to those that haven’t seen Kizer in action (99 percent of us), but it wasn’t to Kelly. We’ve played two really good football teams.
Zaire adds to an injury-plagued start to the season for the Fighting Irish. Because IU could not generate an attack, the defense could not hold up against the nationally ranked Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame has accumulated several season-ending injuries including DT Jarron Jones, CB Shaun Crawford, RB Tarean Folston and now QB Malik Zaire.
His message this week to his players is blissfully simple.
Notre Dame may have avoided the upset at the hands of the Virginia Cavaliers but their win came at a price as they lost starting quarterback Malik Zaire for the rest of the season due to a fractured ankle.
“Yeah, I did”, he said before quickly stopping himself from sharing too much of his thoughts and emotions. “Those are hard injuries [to Folston and Zaire], no question”. In that one, UVa marched 89 yards on 10 plays to take the lead with 2:55 to go.
Kelly said he is confident it can go pretty far, even though his new quarterback has all of 13 passes to his credit. Just says a lot about the resolve of the group we have out there. “Just like high school, he’s going to get better with every snap he takes and produce very well”. The bulk of the damage was done on the read option, with Zaire and C.J. Prosise gashing the interior of the UVA front seven between the guards down the A gap for the bulk of their yardage.
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“At this point I feel like I can do anything in the position”, Prosise said regarding his transition from slot receiver.
