Tag: Deshone Kizer

Notre Dame’s Quarterback Conundrum Must Be Solved

Solving Notre Dame’s quarterback conundrum

If you are a football fan to any degree, you know the following statement to be true. Quarterback is the single most important position in the sport. Coincidentally, this position has been a frustration for Notre Dame fans for well over a decade.

Sure, there have been some standouts. [autotag]Deshone Kizer[/autotag] comes to mind, [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] in recent vintage as well in terms of quarterbacks who made it to the NFL after their Notre Dame careers ended. But even when including these players, the Irish haven’t had a signal caller they win their biggest games because of. Not with, but because of.

This needs to change for Notre Dame moving forward and with the rumor mill ablaze regarding quarterback recruits and the Irish, let’s take a look at five things to consider about the current quarterback dynamic.

Notre Dame’s 2015 Fenway Park game vs. Boston College

It wasn’t the prettiest of games but the event was incredible!

With news out that Notre Dame baseball is headed to play at Fenway Park in Boston in the spring of 2023, we thought it’d be a good time to take a quick trip down memory lane and look back at the football team’s trip to Fenway in 2015.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games for the Irish, who were very much alive in the College Football Playoff chase at the time.  Boston College was in the midst of a brutal season, but five Notre Dame turnovers kept things far closer than most expected going in.

Despite getting off to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, the Irish had to struggle their way to hold onto a 19-16 victory in improving to 10-1 while Boston College fell to 3-8.

[autotag]Deshone Kizer[/autotag] threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns put also was intercepted three times that night.  The Irish averaged just 3.7 yards per carry on the night, as [autotag]C.J. Prosise[/autotag] led the way with 57 of the team’s 123 rushing yards.

Despite the ugly performance, Notre Dame escaped with a win and it was certainly a memorable night for all who experienced it.  Here is a look back at the best photos from that night at Fenway Park.

 

WATCH: Former Browns QB DeShone Kizer breaks down Hue Jackson’s confusing playcalls

We were not the only ones confused by the playcalling of Hue Jackson as DeShone Kizer recalls his first time in an NFL huddle

Neither quarterback DeShone Kizer nor Hue Jackson are remembered fondly for their time as members of the Cleveland Browns. However, it appears those watching the Browns during that 2017 season were not the only ones confused by the offensive play that took place. Kizer recalls his first time in an NFL huddle and it is quite hilarious.

Later traded for safety Demarious Randall after just one season in Cleveland, Kizer still remembers that year with the Browns (how could he forget?). Walking over to Jackson for the play call, Kizer remembers the play now:

“Trips right off Y-counter motion deep pass 96 F sail X dagger KILL with 95 open.”

Kizer then recalls having to go back to Jackson three times for the call and still could not get it right. He ends the trip down memory lane with a hilarious quote, stating, “Coach, that is a long play. I’m used to [gestures with hand signals] a couple of signals, you go up and say 61, the offensive line is good and you’re ready to rock.”

It is fun to look back on that year now, but it sure was not fun to be a part of that season five years ago.

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College football in a hurricane: Notre Dame tries throwing 31 times in middle of literal hurricane

What is your pick for all-time most memorable “weather game” in Notre Dame history?

This week ESPN’s “College Gameday” travels to Clemson, South Carolina for a battle between a couple of unbeaten squads as the host Tigers take on North Carolina State.  Notre Dame is off for their bye this week but with the weather that is expected it’s seemingly fitting from a Fighting Irish fan’s perspective that these two are meeting up.

Hurricane Ian is making landfall on Wednesday on Florida’s gulf coast and with it is bringing an incredible amount of rain and dangerously high winds.  In all seriousness, far beyond the importance of a silly football game this weekend or from years ago now, all the best to those having to evacuate or ride this thing out.

Clemson playing host to North Carolina State on Saturday will be played in what should be a ridiculous amount of rain and probably wind, too.  With it being at Clemson it brings back memories for Notre Dame fans as in 2015, the unbeaten Fighting Irish and Tigers met in Clemson and played a classic while being poured on by the rains from Hurricane Joaquin.

We looked back at that memorable night with photos here.

For Notre Dame fans it also brings back memories of one of the ugliest games in Notre Dame football history, the 2016 game at North Carolina State as the rains from Hurricane Matthew took a toll on the east coast.

The game was only memorable for all the wrong reasons, especially for Notre Dame.  Brian Kelly’s questionable game plan that afternoon called for 31 passes (five of which resulted in sacks) in conditions that featured a constant downpour as well as wind gusts north of 50 miles per hour.

It’s no surprise that the teams combined to throw for less than 100 yards and the only touchdown came on a botched punt.

Said [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] after the 10-3 defeat, “I think it was pretty evident to me that we were in need of throwing the football when we did throw it. We just weren’t as effective as I thought we could be.”

That one is still mind-numbing six years after the fact.

Perhaps it would have been wise to have pushed that one back a few weeks.

Then again, would anyone really look back on this meeting had it been played in sunny conditions?

Enjoy some incredible photos below from perhaps the most infamous weather game in the long history of Notre Dame football.

College football in a hurricane: Notre Dame-Clemson from 2015

Did someone say hurricane levels of rain on a Saturday at Clemson?

This week ESPN’s “College Gameday” travels to Clemson, South Carolina for a battle between a couple of unbeaten squads as the host Tigers take on North Carolina State.  Notre Dame is off for their bye this week but with the weather that is expected it’s seemingly fitting from a Fighting Irish fan’s perspective that these two are meeting up.

Hurricane Ian is making landfall on Wednesday on Florida’s gulf coast and with it is bringing an incredible amount of rain and dangerously high winds.  In all seriousness, far beyond the importance of a silly football game this weekend or from years ago now. all the best to those having to evacuate or ride this thing out.

Clemson playing host to North Carolina State on Saturday will be played in what should be a ridiculous amount of rain and probably wind, too.  With it being at Clemson it brings back memories for Notre Dame fans as in 2015, the unbeaten Fighting Irish and Tigers met in Clemson and played a classic while being poured on by the rains from Hurricane Joaquin.  It also brings back memories of one of the ugliest games in Notre Dame football history, the 2016 hurricane game at North Carolina State, something we also took a look back on.

Thanks to costly Notre Dame turnovers it looked like most of the night that Clemson was going to run the Irish out of the building.  Stretching their lead to 21-3 just after halftime, the rout was seemingly on.

However, Notre Dame mounted a comeback by dominating the fourth quarter and a touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Torii Hunter, Jr. with just seven seconds left brought the Irish within two.  Brian Kelly called a Kizer designed run to the outside for the two-point conversion try that was stopped and with that, Clemson escaped with the 24-22 victory.

Take a look back at that memorable but heartbreaking night in Clemson below:

History of Notre Dame’s rivalry with Pittsburgh

Here’s a rivalry worth talking about.

Everyone knows about the rivalries Notre Dame has with USC, Navy and Michigan, although that last one currently is on hiatus. However, a lot fewer fans seem to realize that Pittsburgh is another program the Irish have played frequently. Ever since the Irish won a 6-0 decision during their first meeting in 1909, the Panthers have been a semi-regular opponent. Like with most rivalries, the Irish have the all-time edge, this one to the tune of 50-21-1.

The series isn’t fading away anytime soon as the programs currently are scheduled for seven future meetings. It’s time to give this rivalry the prestige and hype it deserves. To help fans appreciate the Irish’s history with the Steel City’s flagship university, let’s take a look at some of its most memorable moments to date. Diehard Irish fans undoubtedly remember many of these, but for the uninitiated, here is what to keep in mind during the programs’ future matchups:

Notre Dame all-time single game passing leaders

Passing for a lot of yards doesn’t always mean good things.

Notre Dame has had countless memorable performances by quarterbacks over the years, but which quarterbacks had the best single days in Fighting Irish football history?

That answer is debatable because some of the very best statistical performances came in games Notre Dame lost and was trailing the majority of so required throwing to try and mount a comeback. Does that make them the best?

Related: Notre Dame’s long history of struggles in Fiesta Bowl

We’ll leave that debate for you to have as we look back below on the 10 best single-game passing yards performances in the long history of Notre Dame football.

Top 10 career passers in Notre Dame history

When you’ve played football as long as Notre Dame has your record books end up looking pretty impressive. That’s the case when you look at the best quarterbacks to ever play at Notre Dame. So who holds the records and even more impressively, who are …

When you’ve played football as long as Notre Dame has your record books end up looking pretty impressive.  That’s the case when you look at the best quarterbacks to ever play at Notre Dame.

So who holds the records and even more impressively, who are some of the megastars you remember who didn’t make the top 10?

Here are Notre Dame’s top ten career passers:

Recent former Notre Dame quarterbacks in their first NFL starts

Ian Book will be measuring up to these guys when he makes his first start.

With Ian Book getting the start for the New Orleans Saints this coming week, it brings many other former Notre Dame quarterbacks to mind. Specifically, we like to think of those in recent years who have been made starters for NFL teams and how they did in their debuts. Here are how these quarterbacks who once donned the gold and blue did in when they were first charged with NFL offenses in games:

Titans add DeShone Kizer to practice squad, Austin Fort to COVID-19 list

Kizer was on the Titans’ practice squad last season and was with the team in training camp this year before being cut.

The Tennessee Titans are bringing back a familiar face to their practice squad with the addition of quarterback DeShone Kizer, the team announced on Friday.

Kizer spent time on the Titans’ practice squad last season and was with the team in training camp before getting cut in favor of quarterback Matt Barkley.

Kizer joins fellow quarterback Kevin Hogan, who was signed to the practice squad after Barkley was poached by the Carolina Panthers. Kizer and Hogan will serve as emergency options behind starter Ryan Tannehill in the wake of quarterback Logan Woodside being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

In addition, the Titans also placed practice squad tight end Austin Fort on the COVID-19 list. He’s the third player added to the list this week, along with Woodside and linebacker Joe Jones.

Tennessee will travel to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Week 12 on Sunday.

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