Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Football
Offense Peaking for Kizer's Possible Last Home Game
November 18, 2016
955
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Saturday’s home game against Virginia Tech will be the last time that many seniors run through the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium . While junior DeShone Kizer isn’t graduating in May, he very well could be suiting up for the last time at Notre Dame.
“The thought has definitely crossed my mind. I can definitely acknowledge that,” Kizer discussed the possibility of leaving a year early to enter the NFL Draft. “But I think that with that, you have to treat every game like it's your last. This season has really shown me that to appreciate every opportunity that you have to step in that stadium. Through a competition with Malik, through a rough start, I think that those opportunities and those experiences that I've had in that stadium have been awesome, and I've definitely learned to appreciate them.”
Most projections show the quarterback going in the first round of the draft, and Sports Illustrated even has him going as the No. 2 pick to the San Francisco 49’ers. Kizer is being compared to the likes of DeShaun Watson (Clemson) and Mitch Trubinsky (North Carolina), also expected to enter the draft.
“There's so many things that you can learn from through this season,” the 6-foot-4 quarterback reflected on a tough year. “I think one is to take each game for the game it is, to look ahead and to say that this could be my last game, that would add a lot more pressure than is already out there. I think it's more important to focus in on the opportunity that you have in front of you, and that's to play just another game out there with my brothers.”
The Toledo native has certainly found success at Notre Dame. In his first action on the field last year, Kizer pulled the Irish out of a hole against Virginia with a game-winning touchdown pass to Will Fuller with 12 seconds remaining. He led the Irish to a 10-3 record that year, and was realistically just two plays away from taking the Irish to the College Football Playoff.
Rick Kimball/ISD
DeShone Kizer
This season has been more trying for Kizer.
“You don't respect and appreciate the ups when you don't go through the downs, and I think that this season has really proved to me that in order to achieve greatness, you have to see what it's like to be on the other side of it,” the quarterback compared his two years at Notre Dame. “Last year I was thrown into a fire and came out pretty successful. And that was my whole career up until that point was me being a top athlete in a leading position and being successful. And this year has been the first year where, you know, I didn't have the start that I really wanted to have, and I really had to experience what it was like to be a losing quarterback.”
While last year, Notre Dame headed into its last two games eyeing the playoff, this year they need two wins just to make a bowl game.
“We want to be a team who continues on a winning tradition at Notre Dame, and I think in order to get to a bowl game, it aligns right along with that,” DeShone elaborated on the team’s desire to rally for a bowl game. “Right now our main focus that we've learned through the losses that we've gone through is just to win this week. Not only do we have two games out there, but we have two games against two really good opponents. Virginia Tech is one of the hotter teams in the country right now, playing really good defense, throwing the ball all over the place, really electric. And obviously, not to look ahead, but USC is doing the same exact thing. So for us it's us focusing in on how we can do whatever we can to just go one and zero this week.”
Virginia Tech, 7-3, fell out of the rankings last week after a 20-30 loss to Georgia Tech. Notre Dame had its largest margin of victory of the season with a 44-6 win against Army. While Virginia Tech is likely the toughest opponent the Irish will have seen this season, momentum is in Kizer’s corner.
“I think we executed really well against Navy and I think we executed really well against Miami,” Kizer evaluated two of the Irish’s recent games. “I think we're definitely heading in the right direction at this time of the year as needed with the rough start that we had.”
Notre Dame’s offense is peaking just at the right time, averaging over five yards per carry in each of the last three games. In addition to running the ball, the receiving unit has begun to find its rhythm.
“The whole receiving corps, the development all the way across the board has been awesome.” Kizer looked at the men who have been on the receiving end of his passes all year. “We had to throw them into the fire obviously early in the season, and we saw great success rates with them. A bunch of guys were out there playing in some of their first games and now towards the end of the season you see a consistent development across the board.”
But even with an offense that has finally clicked, Kizer and company will still be faced with a tough challenge ahead. Virginia Tech and USC have the 14th and 16th best defenses in the country, according to S&P+, better than any of the defenses Kizer has seen yet this year.
A win over Virginia Tech would be a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy football season for the Irish. DeShone Kizer wants to give his team, especially the seniors, that feeling on their final home game of the year.
“That would be everything to me,” Kizer said, wanting to deliver for his teammates and friends. “This season has been all over the place, but one thing that's remained consistent is the leadership that's come from that senior class. And for us to get a win on the last home game would be absolutely amazing.”
Kickoff is set for Saturday, 3:40 EST at Notre Dame Stadium.
“The thought has definitely crossed my mind. I can definitely acknowledge that,” Kizer discussed the possibility of leaving a year early to enter the NFL Draft. “But I think that with that, you have to treat every game like it's your last. This season has really shown me that to appreciate every opportunity that you have to step in that stadium. Through a competition with Malik, through a rough start, I think that those opportunities and those experiences that I've had in that stadium have been awesome, and I've definitely learned to appreciate them.”
Most projections show the quarterback going in the first round of the draft, and Sports Illustrated even has him going as the No. 2 pick to the San Francisco 49’ers. Kizer is being compared to the likes of DeShaun Watson (Clemson) and Mitch Trubinsky (North Carolina), also expected to enter the draft.
“There's so many things that you can learn from through this season,” the 6-foot-4 quarterback reflected on a tough year. “I think one is to take each game for the game it is, to look ahead and to say that this could be my last game, that would add a lot more pressure than is already out there. I think it's more important to focus in on the opportunity that you have in front of you, and that's to play just another game out there with my brothers.”
The Toledo native has certainly found success at Notre Dame. In his first action on the field last year, Kizer pulled the Irish out of a hole against Virginia with a game-winning touchdown pass to Will Fuller with 12 seconds remaining. He led the Irish to a 10-3 record that year, and was realistically just two plays away from taking the Irish to the College Football Playoff.
Rick Kimball/ISD
DeShone Kizer
“You don't respect and appreciate the ups when you don't go through the downs, and I think that this season has really proved to me that in order to achieve greatness, you have to see what it's like to be on the other side of it,” the quarterback compared his two years at Notre Dame. “Last year I was thrown into a fire and came out pretty successful. And that was my whole career up until that point was me being a top athlete in a leading position and being successful. And this year has been the first year where, you know, I didn't have the start that I really wanted to have, and I really had to experience what it was like to be a losing quarterback.”
While last year, Notre Dame headed into its last two games eyeing the playoff, this year they need two wins just to make a bowl game.
“We want to be a team who continues on a winning tradition at Notre Dame, and I think in order to get to a bowl game, it aligns right along with that,” DeShone elaborated on the team’s desire to rally for a bowl game. “Right now our main focus that we've learned through the losses that we've gone through is just to win this week. Not only do we have two games out there, but we have two games against two really good opponents. Virginia Tech is one of the hotter teams in the country right now, playing really good defense, throwing the ball all over the place, really electric. And obviously, not to look ahead, but USC is doing the same exact thing. So for us it's us focusing in on how we can do whatever we can to just go one and zero this week.”
Virginia Tech, 7-3, fell out of the rankings last week after a 20-30 loss to Georgia Tech. Notre Dame had its largest margin of victory of the season with a 44-6 win against Army. While Virginia Tech is likely the toughest opponent the Irish will have seen this season, momentum is in Kizer’s corner.
“I think we executed really well against Navy and I think we executed really well against Miami,” Kizer evaluated two of the Irish’s recent games. “I think we're definitely heading in the right direction at this time of the year as needed with the rough start that we had.”
Notre Dame’s offense is peaking just at the right time, averaging over five yards per carry in each of the last three games. In addition to running the ball, the receiving unit has begun to find its rhythm.
“The whole receiving corps, the development all the way across the board has been awesome.” Kizer looked at the men who have been on the receiving end of his passes all year. “We had to throw them into the fire obviously early in the season, and we saw great success rates with them. A bunch of guys were out there playing in some of their first games and now towards the end of the season you see a consistent development across the board.”
But even with an offense that has finally clicked, Kizer and company will still be faced with a tough challenge ahead. Virginia Tech and USC have the 14th and 16th best defenses in the country, according to S&P+, better than any of the defenses Kizer has seen yet this year.
A win over Virginia Tech would be a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy football season for the Irish. DeShone Kizer wants to give his team, especially the seniors, that feeling on their final home game of the year.
“That would be everything to me,” Kizer said, wanting to deliver for his teammates and friends. “This season has been all over the place, but one thing that's remained consistent is the leadership that's come from that senior class. And for us to get a win on the last home game would be absolutely amazing.”
Kickoff is set for Saturday, 3:40 EST at Notre Dame Stadium.
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