Notre Dame loses Malik Zaire for season, but beats Virginia on TD in final minute
Notre Dame escaped Virginia with a 34-27 win Saturday afternoon on a dramatic late-game touchdown but it proved bittersweet.
Starting quarterback Malik Zaire suffered a fractured ankle and is done for the season, Irish coach Brian Kelly announced after the game.
The redshirt sophomore’s right ankle was rolled up on awkwardly on a tackle from Cavs safety Kelvin Rainey in the third quarter.
The game itself ended in thrilling fashion, with backup quarterback DeShone Kizer connecting with Will Fuller in stride on a beautiful 39-yard pass down the left sideline. Fuller got behind the Virginia secondary and tiptoed inside the pylon for the game-winning score.
The Kizer-to-Fuller heroics came after the Irish blew a 26-14 second-half lead that followed the Zaire injury.
On Kizer’s first play at quarterback, he handed off to running back C.J. Prosise for a 24-yard touchdown run, extending Notre Dame’s lead to 26-14 with 54 seconds remaining in the third.
Virginia would not go down lightly, however.
On the ensuing drive, the Cavs needed just six plays and 2:12 to go 75 yards to cut into the lead via a Matt Johns touchdown run. Johns, who threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon, found his favorite target Canaan Severin (11 catches, 153 yards) on multiple occasions to move the ball down the field.
With the momentum on its side, Virginia quickly forced the Irish to punt on the next possession. And when it looked like the Cavs was poised take the lead, Johns was strip sacked by KeiVarae Russell on a third-and-three from the Notre Dame 38.
The Irish recovered, but the Cavs defense didn’t allow Notre Dame to gain a yard on the next possession. After a punt, Johns put together an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive to give the Cavs a 27-26 lead with 1:54 to go.
Johns hit six different receivers on the drive – three times to Severin and twice to Olamide Zaccheus – but his biggest throw was to Ryan Santoro for 34 yards down the right sideline. Santoro’s first career catch set up a first and goal and running back Albert Reid finished the drive off with a 1-yard score.
Notre Dame regained possession with 1:54 to go and quickly made it into Virginia territory after converting a fourth-and-short play via a Kizer run. Kizer then hit Prosise for gains of 19 and one on the next two plays, setting up the improbable game-winner to Fuller (five catches, 124 yards, 2 TDs) with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock.
It may only be Week 2, but pulling out this win could potentially pay dividends if Notre Dame makes a College Football Playoff run. That will be tough without Zaire.
Kizer, a redshirt freshman, showed his arm strength on the pass to Fuller, but it remains to be seen if he's as polished as Zaire.
Zaire struggled a bit (completing only 7-of-18 passes) before his injury, but he's a guy who pushed and eventually succeeded the accomplished Everett Golson for the Irish last year. With Golson now starting at Florida State, it's pretty clear Brian Kelly and the Irish coaching staff thought they had a chance to do big things with Zaire running the show.
With Zaire now done for the year, Notre Dame's College Football Playoff hopes took a huge hit.
For more Notre Dame news, visit BlueAndGold.com.
For more Virginia news, visit CavsCorner.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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