Notre Dame keeps winning games and losing players. Whether the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish can keep it up will depend on whether their replacements keep putting forth golden efforts.
Quarterback DeShone Kizer came in for the injured Malik Zaire and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller with 12 seconds left Saturday as the Irish survived host Virginia, 34-27.
The stunning victory was “bittersweet,” Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly said. Zaire will miss the rest of the season with a fractured right ankle, making it the second week in a row that a player expected to help carry the offense went down and his replacement stepped in and delivered.