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Notre Dame fans saw their College Football Playoff hopes carted off the field Saturday afternoon when Malik Zaire rolled his ankle with just over a minute left in the third quarter. The gruesome injury happened when Zaire took the snap, and ran up the middle on a routine quarterback draw. A Virginia player tackled Zaire, and the quarterback was immediately escorted to the sidelines and carted into the locker room. He was diagnosed with a broken bone in his right ankle, and will miss the remainder of the regular season.
Next man up: DeShone Kizer.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer had only thrown one pass in his college career before taking over at quarterback for the Irish on Saturday. Kizer stepped in for Zaire, and looked relaxed and confident. He had an impressive showing, converting on 8-for-12 passes including two touchdowns; one a toss on a fake-field goal in the first quarter, and the other the game-winning 39-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left.
Although Kizer played well against Virginia, it will be difficult task to replace Malik Zaire’s leadership ability and intangible skills. Zaire commands the respect of his teammates and has a presence on the field that you cannot coach. In 2014, Notre Dame’s season was clouded by injuries on defense, and in 2015, the injury plague seems to be making its way to the Irish offense. The injury comes just one week after the Irish lost starting running back Tarrean Folston with a torn MCL.
In order for Kizer to find success in 2015, he must buy into the “next man up” mentality. With so much talent and skill around him, Kizer just needs to execute the little things, and focus on what he can control. With playmakers like Will Fuller and C.J. Prosise on offense, DeShone needs to take care of the football, and distribute the ball to the weapons around him.
While the Virginia game helped with Kizer’s confidence, Notre Dame’s daunting upcoming schedule won’t be an easy situation to step into. DeShone Kizer will make his starting debut next week against a stiff Georgia Tech defense, and then he will play on the road at Clemson, at home against USC, and a handful of difficult opponents in November. Notre Dame fans still have high hopes of a College Football Playoff birth, but it certainly seems like more of a stretch with an inexperienced quarterback taking over for Malik Zaire.
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