Notre Dame survived a scare from Virginia on Saturday, but they lost Malik Zaire in the process
Last weekend the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looked like one of the best teams in the country as they throttled the Texas Longhorns, 38-3. This week, things were a little more difficult for the Irish, but they were still able to come away with the win against Virginia, 34-27.
With :12 to go in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame backup quarterback DeShone Kizer hit wide receiver William Fuller for the beautiful 25-yard touchdown to seal the win for the Irish.
Of course, Kizer was in the game making something happen because of the gruesome leg injury that happened to starter Malik Zaire in the second half of this one. Zaire’s ankle was rolled up on and he was taken to the locker room for an evaluation. There’s no official word on his condition at this time.
Notre Dame was in trouble for a majority of this one, even going into the locker room down by two at the half. But, they were able to fight their way back and get the miraculous win.
Three Stars
Matt Johns (QB, Virginia)
Johns was spectacular in this one for Virginia, finishing the game 25-of-36 with 278 yards passing and two touchdowns. He led the offense about as well as any quarterback you’d be looking at to lead an upset charge. Couldn’t get the job done, but he did about as well as you could have asked him to.
Canaan Severin (WR, Virginia)
If you’re going to do some work in the passing game like Virginia did, then you’re going to get help from one of the wide receivers in a big way. In this outing, that honor belonged to Severin, who finished his afternoon up with 144 yards on 10 catches, helping the offense move the chains down the field.
William Fuller (WR, Notre Dame)
Once again, especially when his team needed him the most, Fuller proved that he’s one of the best wide receivers in the country. When all was said and done, Fuller finished up with 124 yards on five catches with two touchdowns. But the most important part of his performance came in the fourth quarter when he was called upon the heaviest.
Odds
Coming into this one, Notre Dame was a heavy 11.5-point favorite, so it’s obvious that the spread was not covered by the Irish in this one.
Next Week
Next week, Notre Dame will look to stay undefeated when they take on a very tough Georgia Tech team back at home inside Notre Dame Stadium. As for Virginia, they’ll look to keep this momentum for themselves when they take on William and Mary next Saturday afternoon.
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