What a difference a few weeks make. During spring practice, DeShone Kizer was firmly entrenched as Notre Dame’s No. 3 quarterback as he watched Everett Golson and Malik Zaire compete for a starting job.
Reps were minimal. His attention was being grabbed by some off-the-field concerns. And Kizer was taking the longview about his road to the starting lineup.
“I was preparing to learn from [Everett] another year and watch him and Malik battle it out through the summer and see who was going to be the guy next year,” Kizer said. “So I had no idea.”
And then Golson transferred. Kizer found out during a stats exam. His cell phone flooded with messages as Kizer tried his best to focus on variances. But a third-stringer just moved within a play of the starting lineup.
Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon. Kizer went from the next man in to the man in charge of the offense.
The Toledo native made quite a first impression, marching the Irish to victory in less than two minutes. He converted a clutch short-yardage, fourth-down run. And he threw a perfect deep ball to Will Fuller for a game-winning touchdown.
Kizer showed a maturity and poise that didn’t necessarily look possible last spring. Last we saw him, he struggled mightily in the Blue-Gold game, completing just one of his five throws for a whopping three yards. (It was actually former walk-on quarterback Montgomery VanGorder that came on and looked sharp, nearly rallying the offense to a final score.)
But Kizer’s game turned around in the summer. Given more responsibility, he took ownership of his reps and his important role in the offense. And instead of throwing to incoming freshmen and walk-ons, he was building an on-field relationship with guys like Will Fuller and Corey Robinson, two receivers he hit on critical completions with the game against Virginia on the line.
“Playing the position I play has a lot to do with being comfortable. Over the summer I was able to get out and throw to all the guys as much as I possibly can, and I got quite a few reps in,” Kizer explained. “When it came to seven-on-sevens, I was working with the ones and twos rather than working with the incoming freshmen I was working with last year. With that preparation and all the reps, it allowed me to gain a little more confidence in my game. Obviously, that kind of carried in the fall, and that confidence is now at its best going into week three.”
“Week three” isn’t just another one on the schedule. The Irish offense will be asked to keep up with Georgia Tech, averaging 67 points a game thus far in 2015 (against mediocre competition), but nonetheless returning the No. 12 scoring attack in 2014, with option trigger-man Justin Thomas still at the helm.
That’s a daunting challenge for any quarterback. Especially for one making his first start. But the Irish have done their best to keep things the same, with Kizer acknowledging Wednesday that practice is the same, game-planning is the same and the offensive operations are all unchanged, a surprise considering most of us expected wholesale changes.
While most of the media digs and searches for information about the man now in charge of the Irish offense, Notre Dame’s new starting quarterback is just looking forward. So while his debut won’t soon be forgotten, it’s on to the next opportunity.
“I think the first drive of the Georgia Tech game will be a pretty good one. It’s going to be pretty big for me and gaining the trust and becoming comfortable with my team and rolling down there,” Kizer said. “Like I said, it’s all in the preparation, and I believe that after yesterday’s practice and what today’s practice holds for us, that we’ll be as prepared as we can possibly be for the game.”