Despite a 50-47 double-overtime loss to the Texas Longhorns on Sunday night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a lot to be happy about, especially the play of junior quarterback Deshone Kizer.
Kizer had been battling senior Malik Zaire throughout camp and on Sunday he proved he is deserving of the job moving forward. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly gave Kizer the starting nod and he never looked back.
The Fighting Irish offense relied heavily on Kizer throughout the night as he kept the team in the game.
Kizer finished his season-opening performance with 215 passing yards, 77 rushing yards and six total touchdowns. That means Kizer accounted for 88 percent of Notre Dame’s total yardage on the night, while being involved in every touchdown.
It was an absolute show from the signal-caller.
This is just a perfect throw from DeShone Kizer to Josh Adams. You can't defend this. Notre Dame leads 35-31. pic.twitter.com/WMuKlXnaYZ
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) September 5, 2016
Those six total touchdowns in a single game were the second time in Kizer’s career he has accomplished the feat, making him the only quarterback in Notre Dame history to do so.
Zaire, meanwhile, completed just two-of-five passes for 23 yards.
Despite the clear difference in performance, Brian Kelly is not yet ready to name a starter going into next week’s game against Nevada in South Bend.
Kelly said Kizer had more opportunities than Malik. Wants to watch film to determine whether this situation should be a 1 QB or 2 QB thing
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) September 5, 2016
But if today was any indication, Kizer is the man to go with moving forward. The Fighting Irish may not have come out on top, but the game said a lot more about the Longhorns than it did about the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame is still a very talented team and they have one of the top quarterbacks in the country if they stick with Deshone Kizer.
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Photo Credit: Angelo Di Carlo, Twitter
