Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/605097
BY LOU SOMOGYI N othing in college football warms the cockles of a team's, and its followers, heart than landing the annual "can't-miss," five- star caliber quarterback, preferably one who can pass and run. No commodity in the sport is more desired and can make a greater impact to a team's fortune. Such figures over the past decade have included Texas' Vince Young, Florida's Tim Tebow, Auburn's Cam Newton and Florida State's Jameis Winston. Their profound skills and unpar- alleled leadership while putting the team on their shoulders and direct- ing national title runs can't be under- stated. At Notre Dame, it's been different. When one looks at the Fighting Irish football program and the quarterback position ever since the arrival of Ara Parseghian as the head coach in 1964, there is an interesting pattern: Most of the greatest, memorable or "where did that come from" seasons were with quarterbacks who either would never play in the NFL or rose from the scrap heap to shock and awe the nation. Sophomore DeShone Kizer is the most recent example in 2015. Who could have projected last spring that Kizer would be a center- piece in Notre Dame's bid to make the four-team College Football Playoff, where the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 4 entering their Nov. 21 game ver- sus Boston College? If anything, Kizer seemed a top candidate for "most likely to transfer." Yet he has become one of the toasts of the nation, with ESPN's Michael Wilbon on the popular "Pardon The Interruption" show on Nov. 11 declar- ing, "DeShone Kizer is the best quar- terback, if not best player, in the entire country." Completely overshadowed in the starting quarterback competition be- tween Everett Golson (who would end up transferring to Florida State in May) and Malik Zaire (who would suffer a season-ending fractured ankle during game two), Kizer saw mop-up duty in the spring game, completing 1 of 5 passes for three yards while also getting sacked. Even former walk-on Montgomery VanGorder was 3-of-3 passing for 43 yards with a touchdown in that game. One wondered if Kizer was more like fourth team. "I literally hit rock bottom," Kizer admitted. "I wasn't throwing the ball well. I was the third-string quarter- back. 'Am I even playing the right sport?' I was thinking to myself, 'Why did I even play football? I could be out there throwing the ball 93, 94 miles per hour. Why not just play baseball?' I was contemplating everything." The Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic product was originally pegged to earn a college scholarship either in base- ball or basketball — his father, Derek, played basketball at Bowling Green — and he was more of a four-star athlete than four-star quarterback prospect. "I was never really a true quarter- back/football guy, like some of these guys are nowadays," Kizer said. "I didn't have a quarterback coach. I didn't go to all the camps. I didn't