UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE
19-of-22 passing for 313 yards in a
rout of Texas, before an ankle injury
sidelined him for the rest of the year.
Zaire is also personable and likable,
and rounds out arguably the finest
one-two quarterback tandem in the
country.
In fact, Lindy's Sports placed Zaire
on its regional 2016 preview magazine
cover, while Sporting News did the
same with Kizer. Both quarterbacks
were given 22/1 odds by Silver State
Sportsbooks to win the Heisman Tro-
phy and a "Who Should Start?" poll
posted on BlueandGold.com resulted
in 49.2 percent favoring Zaire and 48.9
percent Kizer.
In other words, both Kizer and
Zaire are being provided plenty of
preseason support off the field.
But what Zaire can't provide on
the field is Kizer 's experience and
track record, a couple of important
line items if this team is going to win
double digit games again and keep
itself in the playoff conversation late
into the season.
Simply put, Kelly's decision is too
important for this season and the con-
tinued momentum of his program not
to choose the proven winner as his
starter.
The coach may be calling this "arms
race" a difficult choice, but Kizer realis-
tically remains the only choice. ✦
Todd D. Burlage has been a writer
for Blue & Gold Illustrated since
July 2005. He can be reached
at tburlage@blueandgold.com
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