Sept. 20--When DeShone Kizer visited wounded roommate and Notre Dame teammate Malik Zaire on Monday, the quarterbacks didn't talk much football.
"'It's time for you to ball,' that's all he kept saying," Kizer said of Zaire, who broke his right ankle during the third quarter of the Irish's victory last weekend at Virginia.
And ball Kizer did at the start of his first start Saturday, a 30-22 victory against No. 14 Georgia Tech during which he was 21-for-30 for 242 yards and one touchdown.
The redshirt freshman quarterback picked up where he left off last week with Will Fuller, who caught a 46-yard pass from Kizer that he turned into a touchdown and a 7-0 Notre Dame lead with 8 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
The two connected for the game-winner against Virginia, a 39-yarder with 12 seconds left.
Kizer and the No. 8 Irish just hope they won't have another teammate to visit in the hospital.
Safety Drue Tranquill appeared to injure his right knee after breaking up a pass in the end zone late in the second quarter. Tranquill, who tore his ACL last season, leaped in celebration with teammate Joe Schmidt and grabbed for his left knee upon landing. He walked off the field flanked by trainers and returned to the sideline on crutches for the second half.
Fuller (6 catches, 131 yards, TD) has five TD catches this season, four of which have been for at least 39 yards. He secured his third consecutive 100-yard game after finishing the first half with four catches for 112 yards.
But D.J. White's second-quarter interception of Kizer in the end zone, on a fade attempt to Corey Robinson from the 5-yard line, turned into a Georgia Tech touchdown 1:30 later, the Yellow Jackets' sixth in six tries this season after a turnover.
Notre Dame running back C.J. Prosise (198 yards, 3 touchdowns, including a 91-yarder, 22 carries) squeezed into the end zone and barely kept his foot inbounds to end Notre Dame's next possession in the end zone for a 13-7 lead with 1:40 left in the half.
Another Notre Dame turnover, this one a fumble by Alize Jones after a 6-yard reception, didn't end up biting the Irish, who led 13-7 after two quarters.
Georgia Tech didn't have a single passing yard on five attempts in the first half, has missed two field goals and were outgained 245-117.
Georgia Tech was forced into a three-and-out on its first two possessions, the first time this season it had a three-and-out. The team had 11 last year. The Yellow Jackets also were held without a touchdown for the first time in 13 trips to the red zone this season.
Kizer became the fifth consecutive Notre Dame quarterback to win his first start.
