Backup quarterback Deshone Kizer connected with a wide-open Will Fuller on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left to lift #9 Notre Dame to a 34-27 win over Virginia on Saturday before a sellout crowd at Scott Stadium.
UVA (0-2) had taken the lead with 1:54 to go on an Albert Reid 1-yard TD run. The Irish (2-0), who lost starting quarterback Malik Zaire in the third quarter to a lower-leg injury, started their last drive at their own 20, and faced a key fourth-and-two at the 28 at the start of the series.
After a timeout, Kizer gained four yards on a quarterback draw to get the first down and keep the drive alive.
From there, Kizer, a sophomore, was 4-for-4 for 68 yards passing on the drive.
It was his second touchdown pass of the day, the first coming on a first-quarter fake field goal on which he connected with Durham Smythe on a 7-yard TD play.
Notre Dame led 12-0 after the Smythe touchdown and a pair of Justin Yoon field goals, and seemed to be ready to put the game on cruise control early in the second quarter when the sluggish UVA offense woke up.
Matt Johns found Evan Butts in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 12-7. A trick play that had Reid lining up as a wildcat quarterback and flipping the ball to Johns, who had lined up as a slot receiver, resulted in a Johns-to-Keeon Johnson 42-yard TD pass that sent the ‘Hoos into the locker room up 14-12.
Notre Dame got back on top with 7:04 to go in the third when Zaire hit Fuller on a 59-yard touchdown pass that put the Irish up 19-14, and extended the margin to 26-14 with 54 seconds left in the third on a 24-yard TD run by C.J. Prosise on the next play from scrimmage after Zaire had gone out with the leg injury.
Virginia got it back to a one-score game on a Johns 4-yard TD run with 13:42 to go, and then took the lead with the Reid score, which capped an epic 13-play, 80-yard drive that ate 6:01 off the clock.
Johns finished 26-for-38 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns with a 149.7 passer rating. Canaan Severin had 11 catches for 153 yards.
Taquan Mizzell ran 18 times for 66 yards. True freshman Olamide Zaccheaus had two carries for 39 yards and caught two passes for 25 yards.
Prosise ran 17 times for 155 yards for Notre Dame, which gained 253 yards on 34 carries on the ground.
Zaire was 7-for-18 passing for 115 yards and a touchdown. Deshone was 8-for-12 for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
Notre Dame had 460 yards of total offense on 64 snaps for an average of 7.2 yards per play. Virginia had 416 yards of total offense on 68 snaps for an average of 6.1 yards per play.
The game had one turnover, a Johns fumble in the fourth quarter.
Virginia returns to action in Scott Stadium next week against FCS in-state foe William and Mary.
– Story by Chris Graham
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