How much will Notre Dame change with DeShone Kizer at QB?
Greg Dempsey's Saturdays are reserved for college football, and for Notre Dame in particular. While Dempsey, the head coach at Toledo Central Catholic High School, tries to keep tabs on games involving all of his former players, the rest of the family roots for the Fighting Irish.
Democracy rules: Dempsey was watching when Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire suffered a fractured ankle in this past Saturday's matchup against Virginia, a game the Irish led, 19-14, when Zaire exited late in the third quarter.
In the grander scheme, Zaire's injury raised questions about Notre Dame's ability to continue its push for the College Football Playoff. Immediately, however, his departure opened a door for redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer, a Toledo Central Catholic graduate previously set for clipboard-holding and mop-up duties as the Irish's backup quarterback.
While visiting Dempsey during trips back home, Kizer has spoken of a mentality: I am always just a play or two away from getting called in, he'd say, and I need to be ready. He proved his point on Saturday, throwing a winning touchdown to wide receiver Will Fuller to save Notre Dame from a potentially crushing loss.
"That's always what he said, and I thought, we're about to find out," Dempsey said. "He likes those moments. He likes the ball in his hands when the game's on the line. Not everybody likes that."
With Zaire out for the season and true freshman Brandon Wimbush not quite ready for a lead role, the health of the Fighting Irish's offense — and, perhaps, the team's hopes of reaching the Playoff — falls largely on Kizer's shoulders. Yet he won't do it alone: Notre Dame will surround Kizer with help on the field and off, aiding his development with a friendly system and enough talent to offset the team's lack of experience under center.
"We are not going to make any excuses for where we are," Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly said. "There's no reason why we can't win with DeShone Kizer. Anybody that we lose, we believe that we've got guys that can step up.
"We believe that we've got players that we've recruited that can go in and get the job done. Now it's DeShone's time, and I've got confidence in him and I know our players do."
There's some history on Kizer's side. Seven Kelly-coached quarterbacks in a row have won their first start, including the last four at Notre Dame. Only one of Kelly's quarterbacks on the Football Bowl Subdivision level, former Central Michigan star Dan LeFevour, lost in his debut.
And season-ending injuries aren't a new thing for the Fighting Irish. Five players have been lost for the year since the start of fall camp: Zaire, running back Tarean Folston, tight end Durham Smythe, defensive tackle Jarron Jones and defensive back Shaun Crawford.
The offense won't change dramatically with Kizer in the starting lineup, Kelly said, even if Kizer lacks Zaire's elusiveness in the running game.
"We feel comfortable running him, and we'll continue to run our read option series with him," he said. "We'll do some things a little bit differently with him than we did with Malik. But I also think he has some other skill sets that we can definitely go to that will help our offense."
One asset may be his mental makeup. Kizer's bright and confident, with the sort of leadership skills that have quickly earned the respect of his teammates, Kelly said.
"He just has a confident air about him and he believes he can go in there and win, and you love that about a kid that can go in there and get the job done," he said.
This doesn't come as a surprise to Dempsey, who saw Kizer rally Toledo Central Catholic to a state championship in 2012 and the doorstep of a repeat a year later.
"I guarantee you, when (Kelly) looked in his eyes Saturday on that drive, he was probably worried what was going to happen, like all of us," said Dempsey. "But he liked the look that was staring back at him.
"He knows this is an opportunity. He knows there's a lot of expectations on this season. He has to do his job now to keep this going."
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