ND pulls off thrilling finish against Virginia; loses Zaire

Emotions were not all positive for Notre Dame, however, as head coach Brian Kelly announced after the game Zaire would miss the remainder of the season with a fractured ankle. “There’s no reason why we can’t win with DeShone Kizer”, said Kelly.

“We need to get the winning taste in our mouth”, said Johns, who did all he could with his arm and guile to sweeten U.Va.’s palette.

Before the redshirt freshman suddenly became Notre Dame’s first-string quarterback during the 34-27 victory against Virginia, Kizer was just the team’s holder. Kizer connected with junior tight end Durham Smythe on a shovel pass for a seven-yard score, opening the scoring at the 9:29 mark. “It was in our strike zone area where we could run it”. With Zaire out, Kizer came to the rescue on the final drive.

No. 2 ALABAMA 37, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 10 (at Tuscaloosa, Ala.) – Jake Coker passed for 214 yards, all in the first half, and Derrick Henry ran for three TDs to lead the Crimson Tide (2-0). Moving the chains on third down became a consistent problem for Notre Dame, as it finished the day 0-for-10. “DeShone isn’t going to have to win it himself”, Kelly said. “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”.

Did Harbaugh take a moment to enjoy his first game as a coach at Michigan Stadium, where he played and attended games as a kid when his father was an assistant coach? Now, after a near-loss to Virginia in a wild, inconsistent, down-to-the-wire contest, it looks more likely that the Longhorns really were that bad more than anything else.

Notre Dame lost the lead when Virginia scored with 1:54 remaining. “But it’s correctable things”.

Zaire was projected to have a big year for the Irish, and their season is only going to get tougher without their star quarterback.

Notre Dame has accumulated several season-ending injuries including DT Jarron Jones, CB Shaun Crawford, RB Tarean Folston and now QB Malik Zaire. Kelly said that the Irish program has experienced similar injuries to defensive players Matthias Farley and Joe Schmidt, both of whom returned fully healthy and able to contribute. In the 2014 Music City Bowl 31-28 victory against LSU, Zaire completed 12 of 15 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown and had 22 carries for a rushing touchdown.

“Those are hard injuries [to Folston and Zaire], no question”.

Notre Dame wants to win a championship with DeShone Kizer].

“There are a lot of great players around (him)”.

“Whatever it takes to help my teammates get better, that’s what I’ll do”, he said. There’s no reason we can’t win with C.J.

We’ll have more detailed analysis up soon.

“When I beat him and I saw the ball in the air, it was like it was up there for a million years“, Fuller said. “I was very pleased with the progress from game one to game two”. “But I think we’re encouraged that we’re playing and trying to hang in there with one of the best teams in the country”.

First was the move to accept an illegal-man-downfield penalty on a third-and-10 play on which UVA had gained a modest five yards, setting up a fourth-and-five if Kelly declines the penalty. Two possessions later, he found sophomore receiver Ryan Santoro on third-and-15 for a 34-yard strike that set Virginia up at the Notre Dame two-yard line.

And it was Kizer who led a drive in the final minutes after Virginia had taken a 27-26 lead, and as Notre Dame was approaching field goal territory late, Kizer happened to look up and see Will Fuller streaking down the sideline.

On fourth-and-2, with just over a minute left, Kizer barreled for 4 yards.