Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 JANUARY 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MATT JONES J unior quarterback DeShone Kizer received Most Valuable Player honors at Notre Dame's end-of-season awards banquet Dec. 10. Kizer completed 58.7 percent of his 361 passes for 2,925 yards with 26 touchdowns in 2016, while leading the Irish to a disappointing 4-8 fin- ish. He also rushed for 472 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranked among the top 25 na- tionally in five categories, includ- ing touchdown passes (18th, 26), passing yards per completion (24, 13.8), points responsible for (17th, 204), points responsible for per game (18th, 17) and total offense (26th, 283.1 yards per game). The MVP award — which went to Will Fuller a year ago — is voted on by the Notre Dame players. "The guys who have been deemed MVP of the Notre Dame football team are some of the best to ever play the game," said Kizer, sporting a sharp blue blazer and black turtle- neck. "The history behind this school is awesome, and the winning tradi- tion is awesome. To be considered among the guys who lead a winning tradition like this is truly an honor. "I didn't really understand what it meant until I got to sit up there and watch the highlight tapes of all the best do it. And now, to be among the best, once again is an honor." Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly opened the awards show with a brief monologue. "You come to Notre Dame to win championships," Kelly said. "Clearly we did not live up to that." The rest of the show was emceed by Jac Collinsworth. The presenta- tion featured several good-natured jokes at the Irish, poking fun at some struggles by senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey as well as some other practice field blunders. Sophomore wide receiver Equa- nimeous St. Brown and senior line- backer James Onwualu earned Of- fensive and Defensive Players of the Year awards, respectively. St. Brown quickly became Kizer's go-to receiver in 2016. The Califor- nia native led Notre Dame with 58 receptions for 961 yards and nine touchdowns. He ranked among the country's top 40 receivers in both re- Echoes Of 2016 DeShone Kizer wins MVP honors at Notre Dame's end-of-season awards banquet