by Leprechaun Express & Steve Welsh
Shine a spotlight on DeShone Kizer, and the results are often C-L-U-T-C-H.
“Look, if you’ve got a really good quarterback you’ve got a chance, and he’s a really good quarterback,” Kelly said. “He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to do it and he’s working to get better at it every single day. He gives you a shot at winning every game you play.”
For a majority of the second half, Notre Dame junior quarterback DeShone Kizer stood on the sideline without his helmet and wearing a red visor.
No, the Toledo, Ohio, did not struggle and get the hook from coach Brian Kelly.
The Irish avoided a Week 2 quarterback controversy, starting Kizer and letting him captain Notre Dame to a big first half lead en route to a 39-10 victory over Nevada in front 80,795 spectators at Notre Dame Stadium.
Good … but not quite totally convincing. … Saturday’s lopsided 39-10 Irish (1-1) win over talent-starved Nevada (1-1) Saturday was an opportunity to shake off a little frustration and get ready for Michigan State … The Irish, who appeared to rectify a few of their defensive shortcomings from a week ago, will likely have to go into the rest of their season without Shaun Crawford, one of the two dependable cornerbacks on the roster. … Nick Coleman, who took a beating against the Longhorns … was inserted with no obvious damage until the third quarter when Wyatt Demps caught a 44-yard pass over him.
… DeShone Kizer built on the success he had in the opener. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 156 yards in a little over two quarters. … threw for two second-quarter touchdowns while the Irish put 25 points on the board. … ran for a score from two yards in the third quarter.
Notre Dame did some good things offensively against Texas, but in the end the Irish offense could not capitalize on enough opportunities to win … Kizer was able to move the offense much better than Zaire, leading the Irish to all six of its touchdown drives. He made plays with his arm (215 yards, 5 TD’s) and legs (77 yards, 1 TD). Kizer was more than willing to attack tight windows … It was not a perfect performance … the Irish quarterback left too many yards on the table …. All in all, Kizer played very good football, but moving forward he will have to clean up some mechanical and read issues.
DeShone Kizer will start at quarterback for … Notre Dame against Nevada …. Kizer said Kelly met with him Wednesday and told him he won the job …. Kizer outplayed Malik Zaire in a 50-47 double-overtime loss at Texas. Kizer threw for five touchdowns and ran for another and guided Notre Dame within field-goal range two other times on 13 possessions. … 15 of 24 passing … 215 yards … pass efficiency rating of 206.5.
Notre Dame fights back to tie the score 14-14 at Texas late in the first half, with an electric, acrobatic 30-yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Equanimeous St. Brown, their second of the game, with 3:44 to go in the half. Kizer hits St. Brown in mid-stride around the Texas 4, with St. Brown flying forward off a hit from a Texas defender, then doing a somersault off his hand to flip into the end zone.
TOUCHDOWN IRISH!
Equanimeous St. Brown scores his second career TD & second of the game
#10 ND 14 | 14
2nd Quarter pic.twitter.com/z0fyAwLnkN— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 5, 2016
Equanimeous St. Brown LITERALLY just did a one-handed TD cartwheel to tie the game! pic.twitter.com/Ja4hfcFQGz
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) September 5, 2016
Notre Dame gets on the board 7-0 in their first offensive drive at Texas, with a 13-yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Equanimeous St. Brown. Kizer lofts a well-placed pass to the outside shoulder of a leaping St. Brown near the left sideline, five yards deep in the end zone. The Texas defender had decent height, at 6-2, yet the 6-5 St. Brown combined physical size with athleticism and grace, to snag the well-thrown ball for the score and get his right foot down just in-bounds. It would be Notre Dame’s only score in a first quarter that ended with the score 7-7.
TOUCHDOWN IRISH!
DeShone Kizer finds Equanimeous St. Brown to get the Irish on the board first.
#10 ND 7 | TX 0 pic.twitter.com/6yauRJGzpo
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 4, 2016
Brian Kelly, like most people analyzing Notre Dame’s season opener against Texas, realizes that all eyes will be on the Irish quarterback situation. … the rotation of junior DeShone Kizer and senior Malik Zaire — and how the two quarterbacks handle that … will likely have more impact on the final result than any other factor. * * * The rotation of the quarterbacks will go by feeling, Kelly said, not a hard-and-fast set of rules. The biggest determining factor will be how the Longhorns defend the Irish.
‘What we’re mostly focusing on is what Texas wants to do and how we counter with our two quarterbacks and how we think effectively they can run our offense,’ Kelly said. ‘… we’re trying to counter … the game within the game … how Texas is trying to defend what we’re doing offensively. … the biggest issue that I have moving forward is that we’re going to run the quarterbacks as we see how the defense is playing us. … flow is important, rhythm is important, but if we get into a particular field zone [where] I think another quarterback will be more effective based on what Texas is doing, I may have to supersede the hot quarterback for the right person at the right time.’