SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Coach Brian Kelly isn’t ready to declare the two-quarterback system dead yet at No. 18 Notre Dame. At least not officially.
He is also not about to panic after the Fighting Irish gave up 50 points in the opener to a Texas team starting a freshman quarterback in a season-opener for the first time since 1944.
Kelly blamed the 50-47 double overtime loss to the 11th-ranked Longhorns to an inability by the Fighting Irish to finish the game off on offense, defense or special teams.
“Offensively we had two opportunities to close out the game or at least put us in a really good position on the last couple of drives, and we came up with nothing. And defensively, obviously, we couldn’t come up with a stop,” he said Tuesday. “And special teams we weren’t able to flip the field like we thought we could.”
DeShone Kizer appeared ready to claim the role as the top quarterback heading into Saturday’s game against Nevada (1-0). Kizer outplayed Malik Zaire against the Longhorns, throwing for five touchdowns and running for another, and guided Notre Dame within field-goal range two other times on 13 possessions. The Irish failed to score on the three possessions Zaire played.