CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Notre Dame was down and its quarterback was out, but the Fighting Irish lived up to their name.

Backup quarterback DeShone Kizer tossed a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Will Fuller with 12 seconds left to lift No. 9 Notre Dame over Virginia 34-27 Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.

Kizer had stepped in after starting quarterback Malik Zaire left the game in the third quarter with a broken right ankle.

Zaire, a sophomore, was injured late when a defender fell on his right ankle during a 3-yard run by Zaire. Zaire was helped off the field and then taken to the locker room on a cart for X-rays.

"Our kids are happy and they're celebrating the win, but they lost a kid they feel really strongly about," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "The coaches are probably feeling it more. I am, in particular, because I'm so close to him. I feel bad for him."

The touchdown drive by Kizer and the Irish came just moments after running back Albert Reid dove in the end zone from a yard out to give Virginia a 27-26 lead with 1:54 left.

"It says a lot about the resolve of the group we have out there. It is just a good group of guys that just continue to play. They never laid down; they never got to that point where they didn't believe they could win."

Virginia coach Mike London said, "I'm proud of this team and I'm proud of the effort that was displayed. That's a gutsy group of guys out there."

Kizer tossed two touchdowns after entering the game and got help from running back C.J. Prosise, who ran for 155 yards.

"Certainly (Kizer) doesn't have the experience Malik does," Kelly said. "But we can run our offense through him and he has great weapons around him."

Quarterback Matt Johns anchored the offense for Virginia (0-2), completing 26 of 38 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Canaan Severin had a career day, catching 11 passes for 153 yards.

"I thought Matt did a nice job once again," London said. "He continues to get better. There was leadership he exhibited; he's got guts."

The Irish finished the game with 460 yards while Virginia racked up 416 against a stout Notre Dame defense.

Notre Dame (2-0) owned the first quarter, outgaining Virginia 154-28 and scoring the first 12 points. The Irish scored on their first possession as a perfectly executed fake field goal resulted in a 7-yard touchdown, giving Notre Dame an early 6-0 lead.

Justin Yoon added two field goals as the Cavaliers' defense recovered to keep Notre Dame out of the end zone.

Notre Dame's lead did not last for long, however, as Virginia got into a rhythm in the second quarter.

Sparked by a 38-yard pass play from Johns to Severin, Virginia capped a 75-yard drive as Johns found Evan Butts on a 2-yard pass play to cut the Irish lead to 12-7.

Johns and the Cavalier offense opened up the playbook and used a little trickery to allow Johns to find wide receiver Keeon Johnson on a 42-yard touchdown. That gave the Cavaliers their first lead, 14-12, with 3:04 to play in the half.

Johns completed 10 of 11 pass attempts in the half for 139 yards while Zaire struggled through the air, completing 5 of 13 passes for 38 yards.

The Irish got the bulk of their first-half yardage on the ground from Prosise, who ran for 107 yards on 11 carries.

Notre Dame scored twice in the third quarter, taking a 26-14 lead on a 59-yard TD pass from Zaire to Fuller and a 24-yard TD run by Prosise.

NOTES: Notre Dame held Texas to 163 yards the previous week, the fewest they had allowed since holding Washington to 124 yards in 2008. ... This was the first matchup between the two teams since 1989. ... Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee last week against Texas. ... WR Canaan Severin's five catches in the first half marked a career high.