After Kizer connected with Hunter
to make it a two-point game with just
seven seconds left on the clock, the con-
version to force overtime never had a
chance.
Kizer took a snap and rolled to his
right looking for three yards. He got
just one.
"It was a run-pass option," Kizer
said. "The run option was there. It's
just at that point in time, it's man ver-
sus man, heart versus heart. We got
there — we blocked it the way we were
supposed to block it — we just didn't
get the drive we were supposed to get,
and I didn't lower my shoulder like I
should have, and we didn't get into the
end zone."
Kelly, who also elected to go for two
after the Prosise touchdown at the start
of the fourth quarter, said he was confi-
dent in the play call.
"He has the option to throw it or run
it depending on what the numbers
are. We had fair numbers," Kelly said.
"He's reading it all at the line of scrim-
mage — they were in zone coverage
— and it was the right call. He made
the right call."
Kizer, who was making his first ca-
reer road start, finished the game 19-
of-34 passing for 321 yards with two
touchdowns. He got limited — if any
— help from a run game that totaled
a season-low 116 rushing yards and
failed to move the chains in the first
half and take pressure off the passing
attack.
"We got behind and really couldn't
come back," Kelly said. "I thought in
the second half if the game was closer,
we were probably going to get things
we needed in the run game, but we had
to throw it way too much.
"I wish we could have supported
him better," Kelly added when asked
about Kizer's performance and ability
to command the offense. "He played
Clemson sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson passed for 97 yards and two early touchdowns, and
added 93 yards and a score on the ground.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
