Emotional DeShone Kizer Talks Future and Loss

It was Senior Day inside Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday and 28 seniors were honored during the pregame festivities. Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer now has a decision to make sooner than later on if Saturday was his last game at Notre Dame.

The junior quarterback threw for 235 yards, rushed for 69 yards and scored two touchdowns in the 34-31 loss to Virginia Tech, but was it his last home game?

“I don't know yet,” stated Kizer on Saturday night. “I think that there's definitely an opportunity, once again, to possibly play at the next level. I think that after next week we'll evaluate the season and evaluate the situation as a family and make sure that we pick the right choice, well informed.

“I know that as a business major, as a guy who considers himself an intellect, I'm going to make sure that everything is calculated and that I'm well informed before I do make a decision.”

After the game, Kizer was seen taking in the moment with his family on the field, but it’s the same thing they did as a family after the last home game a year ago.

“I did the same thing last season, too,” explained Kizer. “I think it's awesome to soak in the moment. That was our last season of the 2016 team and I think that it was an awesome opportunity to take it all in with my family. The ups and downs. Definitely just feel what it's like to be out on that field.”

There have been many highs and lows to the 2016 season for Kizer, but he is one to look for a positive out of a negative. The Ohio native feels he has learned something from the seven loss season and will carry it forward with him wherever his next stop may be.

“I think that this season is one that there's going to be a lot of memories to pull from,” stated Kizer. “There's, it's easy to enjoy a win. It's not easy to go through a losing season. As a quarterback who has seen both sides of this at the college level, I think that the losing side I'm going to learn a lot more from.

“These experiences here have been priceless in the sense that I really figured out who I am as player and as a quarterback and as a leader and through this season, I think that the best opportunity or the best experiences I've gone through are through those losses and figuring out how to appreciate the things that go into winning.”

Kizer had chance to make a big memory for himself, as Notre Dame got the ball down three with just over a minute remaining in the game and 90 yards to go.

“Any time the ball's in my hand I think we're going to score,” he stated. “With the guys that we have out there at skill positions, as one of the best offensive lines in the country, you've got to have all the confidence in the world that things are going to end up the way they're supposed to. Obviously, we go out and try to execute what the coaches call. When you don't execute, you don't win.”

However, Kizer wasn’t on the field for the games final play, as he was knocked out of the game on a second big hit by the Hokies defense.

“I’m fine,” said Kizer when asked if he was OK.

The big hits lead to head coach Brian Kelly calling out the targeting rule in his post game presser, but Kizer was a little more understanding, as he can’t dwell on a non-call.

“I just play,” said Kizer. “I'm 250 pounds. Running the ball as a quarterback, there should be a guy there ready to hit me every time I go down. Obviously, there's a bunch of rules set in line to protect the quarterback in those situations. If neither the guy upstairs or the guys on the field felt the need to eject a guy or call targeting, then they're right. We move on.”

It’s no secret the coaches, players and the fan base aren’t thrilled with the 4-7 record in 2016, but it is also clear this loss hurt Kizer and his teammates, as they didn’t send the senior class out with a win in their home finale.

“For the guys who are guaranteed for that to be their last opportunity to play in the stadium, I think that it's very frustrating,” explained Kizer. “Those guys go out and block for me, they block for everyone who carries the ball, they hit, they put their bodies on the line, they go through a lot for success. And when you don't have success as a leader and a quarterback of this team, it's very frustrating.”

Kizer, much like his head coach, was a loss of words when asked about the feeling of losing seven close games this fall.

“Yeah, you know, I think that I did a good job of avoiding all your guys' questions through all the other losses and at this point, what else am I supposed to say,” said a teary-eyed Kizer. “It's just unfortunate this is how the season has gone. I do believe that in every game we played, we had an opportunity to win. We beat ourselves, in a sense, from stupid penalties, stupid decisions on reads. I think that, once again, every opportunity that we have been out there, we have had a chance to win the game and for us to come up short by an average of something around five points on all those games, is very frustrating.”

If Saturday was in fact Kizer’s last game at Notre Dame Stadium, he wasn’t giving any clues other than acknowledging the NFL was an option.

“Let's be real, the opportunity will be there,” Kizer said of the NFL. “We'll see. I have no idea. Like I said, I'm going to make sure that we figure out everything that we need to figure out and make sure that the decision we make is well informed and there's a chance that that was the last time we walked out of there, it's a special place.”