Blue and Gold Illustrated

BY ANDREW OWENS W henever DeShone Kizer drew up the moment in his head of how he would be called upon to win a game for Notre Dame, he figured he would be nervous. When that scenario unfolded for the first time in the team's second contest of the season, at Virginia, he discovered he actually wasn't. Junior quarterback Malik Zaire, making just his third career start, suf- fered a season-ending ankle fracture late in the third quarter, presenting an opportunity for Kizer. The sopho- more signal-caller helped rally the Irish (2-0) to a 34-27 win at Virginia (0-2). "Coach [Brian] Kelly always talks about next man in," Kizer said. "Since day one when we started in June, I've been preparing as if I was going to be the guy. I tried to compete my butt off against Malik all camp and ex- pected for my time to come eventu- ally throughout the season, and now it's here. "Now I've got to look at the guys — some of them seniors — in the eye and let them know that I'm the guy." For better or worse, Kizer is the man moving forward. Zaire grabbed the nation's attention in the season opener with a dominant performance against Texas, but now a team with College Football Playoff aspirations puts its offense on the shoulders of a green sophomore. "Our kids were excited about win- ning the football game and finding a way down late in the game, coming back on the last drive and making a play with our backup quarterback in there, DeShone Kizer, playing his first college football game," Kelly said. "It says a lot about the resolve of the group we have out there. It's just a good group of guys that continue to play. "They never lay down. They never got to that point where they didn't think they could win. I'm proud of the way they kept playing. It wasn't perfect today, but regardless of that they found a way to win the football game, and that at the end of the day is the most important thing." The game ultimately was much more competitive than the early 12-0 Irish lead suggested. Notre Dame out- gained Virginia 154-28 in total yards in the first quarter behind the legs of senior running back C.J. Prosise, who finished the day with 155 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. On the first drive, the Irish stalled at the 7-yard line. Notre Dame inten- tionally took a delay of game to give freshman kicker Justin Yoon more room on the left hash, but Virginia head coach Mike London declined the penalty. Kelly responded with a fake field goal, with Kizer registering his first career touchdown pass on a for- ward flip to junior tight end Durham Smythe, who hit the hole and reached the end zone. On the next two possessions, Notre Dame moved the ball well until get- ting past the Virginia 30-yard line. Yoon made both of his field goal at- tempts, from 32 and 45 yards, respec- tively. In the second quarter, however, the Cavaliers held a 138-56 advantage

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