IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS
I
n a matter of months, Notre Dame
has gone from Everett Golson and
Malik Zaire to Malik Zaire to, af-
ter seven quarters of the 2015 season,
sophomore DeShone Kizer.
For all the hype surrounding a pro-
gram that seemed better positioned for
a championship run than entering any
other season the past couple decades,
the Irish will now have to rely on a
sophomore quarterback to reach that
goal.
If it helps soothe any Notre Dame
fans out there fearing for another sea-
son in a line of eight- and nine-win
campaigns — with 2012 being the ex-
ception — keep in mind Ohio State
lost one quarterback, and then another,
before its No. 3 option put the finishing
touches on a championship season.
No one's calling Kizer the 2015
version of Buckeyes starter Cardale
Jones, but No. 14 isn't exactly out of
his league as Notre Dame's starting
quarterback.
"Certainly he doesn't have the ex-
perience Malik has, but we can run
our offense through DeShone, and he
has great weapons around him," head
coach Brian Kelly said. "We saw that
tonight [versus Virginia]. He's got a
running back and he's got receivers.
We've just got to balance the offense
and do the things he's capable of do-
ing.
"Teams have to overcome injuries.
DeShone Kizer It Is
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly may need to alter his typical game plan to take advantage of Kizer's
strengths.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
