The decision at quarterback was too close to call, so the Irish will play both Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer against Texas, coach Brian Kelly announced Wednesday.

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"They have both been outstanding," Kelly said. "They both make plays. They both are playmakers. We would just continue to practice and continue to see both of these guys make plays. So we're going to play both of them at Texas. Both of them will play at Texas, and both of them have been instructed to keep doing what they are doing."

Kelly isn't ruling out a change later in the season, but the decision was made with tunnel vision

"Then we’ll see what happens the next week against Nevada," he said. "I’m focused strictly on how we bet Texas, and we’re best prepared to beat Texas by playing both DeShone and Malik."

With the decision to play two quarterbacks comes a balancing act that is difficult to perfect. It's less of a challenge during the week, Kelly said, than on Saturdays.

"And so that's where you have to be really good at what your plan is and how you're going to work both quarterbacks into the game, and the situations and the flow of the game," he said. "You have to get both of them understanding that if they make a bad throw, they are not getting yanked, you know. Or they are in a 12-play drive, and if you bring somebody else in, they have to understand the reasons for it. So that's a little bit trickier. That's a little bit more difficult.

"It's much easier just playing one. But we're in the business of winning, and so if it's a little bit harder on us, then we can make that work, if the net is we win the football game."

Kelly added he would "definitely" consider putting both quarterbacks on the field at the same time. But how reps will be divided is still a bit of a mystery to the seventh-year Irish coach.

"How it unfolds, I mean, the game will dictate a lot of that," Kelly said. "I'd be lying to tell you that I could give you an exact answer other than they both have to get on the field and they both have to impact the game in some fashion."