Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME by Golson (14 intercep- tions and eight fumbles) and a lack of production during the USC debacle led to his benching late in the second quarter in fa- vor of sophomore Malik Zaire, who is less accu- rate as a passer than Gol- son but more adept with the read option. Zaire ended that afternoon with 170 yards on 9-of- 20 passing, and added 18 net yards rushing with a touchdown on six carries. Zaire had a strong enough spring for Kelly to keep the starting job open in August after 2012 starter Golson was academically exiled in 2013. Once practice com- menced in August, Gol- son quickly was named the starter, and Zaire be- came more disengaged in practices, per Kelly. The Irish head coach said no one's starting job, includ- ing Golson's, would be a given in the practices leading up to the bowl. "We have to go into that practice with a mindset of getting Ever- ett and Malik both an op- portunity to show what they're made of and how they're going to com- pete," Kelly said. "This was not a competitive situation during the year. Malik was the backup, and I think I made that pretty clear. "We're going to let them compete, and we'll see where that puts us come game time. "The tone is pretty clear about what the ex- pectations are. There's competition at all posi- tions. We'll be looking forward to that kind of spirited practice oppor- tunity." While it's far more l i k e l y t h a t 2 3 - g a m e starter Golson will con- tinue to have the advan- tage, Kelly didn't rule out the competition last- ing only until the Dec. 30 game. "It will [end] when I see what I see," Kelly said. "It may be eight practices. It may be a year. But I'm going to have to see what I need to see from both of them." Zaire did not arrive as a polished passer, so Golson has the advan- tage there (plus the expe- rience) heading into the LSU game, especially be- cause the Tigers possess the nation's No. 1 pass efficiency defense (98.7 rating). "He has a tendency to fall off his throws a little bit," Kelly said of Zaire. "We saw that in his game performance, made some really good throws, but has a tendency to lose his balance in his throws a little bit." Where Zaire has the advantage over Golson is LSU has had difficulties against the read option spread offenses. In their 34-29 loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers yielded 302 rushing yards and 6.2 yards per carry to the Bulldogs, and the 41-7 pounding at Auburn saw the Nick Marshall-led at- NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL TICKETS 2015 SEASON NOW ON SALE 25 Years in Business 1-800-925-2500 www.NotreDameTickets.com