Reliving Notre Dame's 2015 Thrilling Win Over Virginia: A Classic Moment

Notre Dame welcomes Virginia to South Bend for senior day on Saturday

Sep 12, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) celebrates after throwing the game-winning touchdown pass against the Virginia Cavaliers with twelve seconds left in the fourth quarter at Scott Stadium. The Fighting Irish won 34-27. Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Notre Dame and Virginia will meet on the football field for just the fifth time in history Saturday, when the Fighting Irish welcome the Cavaliers to South Bend for just the second time ever.

The history between Notre Dame and Virginia is very small but did have one of those all-time moments in Fighting Irish lore.

The year was 2015 and Notre Dame was fresh off a 38-3 destruction of Texas in Week 1. Next up was the program's first ever trip to the state of Virginia when it took on the Cavaliers on Sept. 12.

Things started well enough for Notre Dame that day as tight end Durham Smythe was the recipient of a touchdown reception on a fake field goal attempt early in the contest. Justin Yoon missed the extra point but hit a pair of first quarter field goals to give Notre Dame a 12-0 lead before Virginia roared back with two touchdowns before halftime.

The back-and-forth affair went into Notre Dame's favor in the third quarter as Malik Zaire found Will Fuller for a long touchdown and CJ Prosise dashed for a 24-yard touchdown run. The 26-14 lead wouldn't hold however as a pair of Virgina touchdowns gave the Cavaliers a 27-26 lead with just 1:54 to play.

Sprinkle in the fact that starting quarterback Zaire had been lost to injury and Irish had their backs against the wall in front of a Virginia home crowd that wanted to celebrate.

Instead, DeShone Kizer rose to the challenge in the closing seconds, finding Will Fuller for another long touchdown, and breaking the Hoos hearts along the way. Check out the highlight that never gets old below.

Had it not closed for good, I would still be able to show you the seat at Sprecher's Restaurant & Pub in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin that I shot out of when that play was made.

The win moved Notre Dame to 2-0 on the young season. Notre Dame would go on to enter the regular season finale in a position to make the College Football Playoff, but a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds at Stanford would instead send Notre Dame to the Fiesta Bowl where it would lose to Ohio State.

Sep 12, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver William Fuller (7) scores the game-winning touchdown past Virginia Cavaliers cornerback Maurice Canady (26) with twelve seconds left in the fourth quarter at Scott Stadium. The Fighting Irish won 34-27. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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