After a downright whomping of the University of Texas in their first game, Notre Dame was probably expecting to walk over Virginia, even in Charlottesville. But UVA marched right down the field late in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead, and the Irish had to run a two-minute drill with their backup QB, DeShone Kizer. He did all right:
Malik Zaire was tabbed at the beginning of the season to replace Everett Golson, who transferred to Florida State after a dismal end to last season, but he went down with a serious-looking ankle injury:
Kizer acquitted himself very well, finishing 8-12 with 92 yards and 2 touchdowns. Of course, 39 of those yards came on the deep pass, but it’s still encouraging enough to say that if Zaire is out for an extended period of time, Notre Dame might still be all right. And bonus Keyser Soze puns!
You have to feel for Virginia fans, who experienced the full range of emotions in short order. First, euphoria when they took the late lead over a top-10 team with a touchdown dive:
And two minutes later, the dark night of the soul:
https://twitter.com/martinrickman/status/642835307407220736
Simba feels your pain, crushed-by-disappointment Virginia fan:
Notre Dame’s still undefeated, and they’re not even the top ten team who had the most embarrassing close win on Saturday. That would be sixth-ranked Auburn, who needed overtime to knock off Jacksonville State from the FCS.
