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South Bend, Ind. -- DeShone Kizer showed that he is more than just a back up guy, after replacing the injured Malik Zaire deep into the second quarter the redshirt-freshman quaterback picked apart the Texas defense who up until Kizer's entrance had played this Fighting Irish offense well.
Kizer threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 11 Notre Dame held Texas to 355 yards of total offense in a 40-10 victory Saturday night.
Kizer was 23-of-34 passing, a 67.7 percent completion rate in place of the injured Malik Zaire, who before taking a hit from Texas' Malik Jefferson was 7-of-10 passing for 45 yards. The hit knocked Zaire out of the game and reports are its a Broken Hand which could keep him out for up to six weeks.
"He threw to the right routes," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "We knew what he was capable of and as difficult as it is to praise a guy who comes in place of someone else misfortune, you have to give credit where its due."
Texas head coach Charlie Strong had nothing but praise for his defense despite giving up forty points and 415 yards of total offense to the Fighting Irish, but twenty one of those points came in the fourth quarter.
"We held them to four field goals," Strong said. "We had enough chances in those first two quarters but our offense just couldn't play to the standard the defense was hitting at, that cost us the game."
Durham Smythe and Corey Robinson caught the two touchdown passes thrown by Kizer, but it was a fourth quarter touchdown run by the quarterback that put this game out of reach for the Longhorns and after that the Fighting Irish just dominated in all areas of the game.
"We've got to get more consistent with everything on offense. We'd have one stop, two stops, and every now and then there would be an explosive play but the offense just didn't do anything for us," Texas defensive end Naashon Hughes said.
The Irish improved to 9-2 against Texas, and to 10-2 in home night games. The Longhorns, coming off a 6-7 season, lost a season opener for the first time since 1999. It also marked their third straight blowout loss, finishing 2014 losing 48-10 to TCU and 31-7 to Arkansas.
"We have to get better. We have to improve. We're just a better football team than what we showed," Strong said. "We have to believe it and our players have to believe it. Because we can't go out and not execute."
Texas' new starting quarterback Jerrod Heard had a day to forget, he alone accounted for five of the Longhorns six turnovers; four interceptions and a fumble, but he did show flashes of good play when the Longhorns came out in the third quarter down by 12. Heard led a long 70 yard drive which he ended with an 8 yard rushing touchdown to bring the score to 12-7.
The Longhorns had zero rushing attack, Jonathan Gray managed just 21 yards on 14 carries averaging a career low 1.4 yards per carry.
Next week, the Longhorns return to Austin to host the Rice Owls. Texas (0-1) is in trouble after just one game. It wasn't because the Longhorns were beaten by Notre Dame. It was the way they were beaten by Notre Dame. They were thoroughly dominated by the Irish in every phase of the game. There were many problems last Saturday. There were many mistakes made last Saturday. There were many missed opportunities last Saturday. There were glaring miscues and misjudgements last Saturday, this Rice Owls game couldn't have come at a better time for Charlie Strong and the Longhorns.