Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer Looking To Play Free And Loose

Everyone remembers the DeShone Kizer against Virginia last season, the 19-year-old kid running down the field with his arms above his head celebrating the game-winning touchdown pass to Will Fuller.

It's a moment that stands out to Kizer. It's one of the main highlights of his 15 games as a Notre Dame starting quarterback.

Those moments of joy, though, have been increasingly rare from the native of Toledo, Ohio, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound NFL prospect who tends to blame himself for all the Irish shortfalls.

“I need to have fun. I need to play loose. I need to play free,” Kizer said.

It’s easier said than done for Kizer, who was asked if he has to guard against pressing too much as he tries to help snap Notre Dame's losing streak.

“At this university under Coach (Brian) Kelly, within this offense there's a lot that's put on the quarterback, and we all know it,” Kizer said. “And that's enough. And that's what I have to understand and I do understand is that I don't need to take on any more than what they give me, and they already give me a lot. And that's kind of my mentality heading into the week is just to play free, have fun.

“I get the opportunity to be the quarterback of University of Notre Dame. That is a privilege that people dream about, that I dreamed about, and I took the fun out of that. And that's my biggest regret in the first four games is I had so much love for this position, love for this team that I took on a lot more than I ever should, which put a lot of pressure on my back, and that's something that I'm going to have to remove and go back to just doing what I love and having a good time."

Kizer is already seeing a difference in the tone at practice by playing with passion.

“I believe that our whole team is buying into that understanding and buying into that idea," Kizer said. "And practice (Tuesday) was a blast. It was a good time to go out there and play football, to play free and have a good time. And today's practice will be the same. Saturday will be the same. And there will be a W on that column when we go out there and we play the way we know how to.”

Attitude. It’s the No. 1 thing that Kizer feels he needs to change moving forward as Notre Dame tries to dig out of its 1-3 start to the season. Kelly has spoken at length about the team playing with more passion and energy, and Kizer raising his standard of play.

“His standard of play is not where we want it to be for him,” Kelly said. “I made that pretty clear after the game. There is a standard that is set for a player, and that standard is based upon what he believes and what we believes should be acceptable for him, and turnovers and his ability to continue to grow as a quarterback sets that standard.

“If he was a first-time starter or he didn't set the pace that he had set last year, maybe the standard would be a little bit lower. But he has set a standard of play that we believe he needs to meet and exceed every time he goes out there.”

Kizer handles the criticism well. But he also said no standard will be as high as his own.

“I'm substandard to my own standards, and that's all that matters," Kizer said. "And if I can go out and attempt to stay above that standard of my own, then we'll be fine.”

“All I need to do, my standard right now is to do whatever I can to help lead the offense to get a win. We're 1-3, and that's unacceptable, and my only goal right now, my only mission is to buy in to everything that's been said in this meeting room right here to get a W on the board because that's all that matters at this point.

Kizer has not been bad through four games. In fact, his 167.6 passer rating ranks 14th in the country and he’s averaging 274 yards per game. On third downs this season, Kizer is 20-for-29 passing (69 percent) with four TDs, one interception and 8.3 yards per attempt.

According to CFB Film Room, Kizer is 14-for-22 for 232 yards, three touchdowns and two INTs while under pressure. Down the field he’s been shakier, completing just 7 of 20 passes for 242 yards with two TDs and two INTs.

The problem areas, in all areas of the team, originate from Notre Dame's players trying to do too much, Kizer said.

"I believe that maybe our biggest issue is that we're too passionate. We love this game too much. Therefore, we're all trying to take on responsibility ourselves and put too much on our back," Kizer said. "That's Notre Dame's biggest issue is that my teammates love me too much, and that's going to allow them to go out there and play tense. They're not playing free. We're not playing free. We're not playing fun.

"In these past four games we're out there completely grinding for something other than to represent ourselves, represent our families and represent Notre Dame and trying to get Ws, and I think that goes to show that this locker room is a bunch of high-caliber guys who understand things at a higher level, and with that they took on more responsibility than they ever needed to.

"(Tuesday's) practice and the mindset of the team right now is one that is taking away that stress, that added stress that we don't need. We just want to go out and have a good time now and do whatever we can to get wins. There's a lot more on the line now than just trying to accomplish a long-term mission. Right now we're focused up on today, how we can control ourselves and how we can control our attitudes and efforts and moving forward to get a W."

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