Malik Zaire Breaks Down in Locker Room After Injury

The loss of Smythe changes the makeup of the unit, but him being hurt does not necessarily prevent Notre Dame from continuing to use that formation.

Kizer made the best of first impressions with the game-winning touchdown pass in a 34-27 win against Virginia on September 12.

Before his press conference, Kelly-who somehow shook the misfortune of the football health gods and overcame his own chest cold-announced that tight end Durham Smythe is out for the season after suffering a torn right MCL on Saturday and undergoing knee and shoulder surgeries on Tuesday morning. Notre Dames DeShone Kizer and BYUs Tanner Mangum have provided some of the biggest highlights of the young season since replacing their teams injured starters.

“Injuries are never anything that we like to deal with and it’s unfortunate that we’ve had some injuries to our brothers on our football team”, a clearly shaken Kelly tells an emotional locker room. Naughton played a key role in clearing opponents’ threats out from in front of the net and has been a stalwart on a unit that has allowed an average of just 1.9 shots per game through eight contests.

The loss of Smythe so early in the season is a disappointment for the Irish (2-0) as they prepare to face No. 14 Georgia Tech (2-0) Saturday in South Bend.

For more on Notre Dame football, follow Tom Davis on Twitter at Tom101010. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game that Wilson’s injury wouldn’t knock him out for the remainder of the season.

In all, Notre Dame has 10 players on the roster from Virginia, North Carolina or the Washington DC area, almost all of them from private schools and the Irish went head-to-head with ACC programs in recruiting battles to land all of them. Brian Kelly brought in Deshone Kizer for Zaire in the game and now he likely will start moving forward for ND.

“We’re going to be watching how he plays and how he leads that team, and that’s certainly part of the evaluation that the committee will weigh. That’s what we do”. Prosise ran 24 yards for a touchdown on the next play. “The thing for us is, even what the captains talked about, is, We don’t care who we’re playing”, Virginia coach Mike London said Monday. “We saw that on Saturday”.

“I think each one of them has some different areas of, I want to say, expertise”, Kelly said.

Season and single game tickets for Notre Dame women’s soccer are on sale now.

A veteran group with talented upperclassmen such as defensive linemen Sheldon Day and Isaac Rochell, linebackers Jaylon Smith and Joe Schmidt and cornerback KeiVarae Russell carried high expectations into 2015 and played up to them with a stifling performance against Texas in the opener.

The Irish will move on – by necessity – with a revamped offense.