Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Temple into Irish territory, and six plays later the Owls held a 20-17 edge. Notre Dame's red-zone woes pre- vented it from going ahead by mul- tiple scores earlier in the game. Kizer threw a pair of red-zone inter- ceptions, which resulted in the Irish heading into the locker room with a precarious 14-10 lead against a stout Temple defense. On the first turnover, the Owls blitzed Kizer and forced him into an ill-advised throw, which was inter- cepted by redshirt junior defensive end Praise Martin-Oguike. Eight plays and 94 yards later, Temple took the lead, 10-7, on Walker's 12-yard touch- down toss to senior wide receiver Brandon Shippen. Three plays later, Kizer responded — with his legs. He kept the ball on the read option, burst through a hole and outran the Owls defense for a 79- yard scoring scamper to put the Irish on top again, 14-10. Kizer's second giveaway came just before halftime with Notre Dame at the Temple 11-yard line. His pass to Fuller was deflected by senior corner- back Tavon Young and intercepted by linebacker Tyler Matakevich. "It's completely unacceptable by me," Kizer said. "The game never should have been as it was at the end. Even if we kick two field goals right there and put a couple points up, we wouldn't be where we were. "You try to wash that off at half- time, and you try to come out and play your best and win the game like we did. Once we go and re-evaluate it, it's completely unacceptable for me to be playing at the level I am right now and throwing picks in those two situations."