Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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came a factor. "The natural side of me came out when I was able to get those chances to be a part, to play a bigger role in prac- tices," Zaire said. "I was able to con- tinue to think about the bigger picture of things, and that it's not about me, it's about the team. That helped me as a quarterback and as an individual to continue to support the team and work towards that goal of winning football games." Two areas he is concentrating on in particular are becoming more efficient on third down and handling/read- ing blitzes. With passing mechanics, it's learning nuances such as when the southpaw throws to his right he needs to take a bigger drop to enable him to open up his hips more. To Zaire, removing the quarterback red jerseys — meaning off limits to con- tact — during December practices al- lowed his leadership skills to show a little more, too. "I feel like I'm more natural when I'm more game-mode situations and more contact," the Kettering, Ohio, native said. "I play with a lot of emotion and when they hit you. … You definitely get beat up here and there, but I think being live is something we needed as an of- fensive unit and it's something that we need individually. "We've had a lot of turnovers on of- fense so it's important for us to get that contact and work on holding on to the ball." Zaire also wants to shed the label that he is primarily a read-option threat. "I take offense to it in the sense that people don't just really know, people haven't seen everything I can do yet be- cause I haven't been playing as much," Zaire said. "You can't say they're wrong for it because that's what I've been called to do, so whatever it takes to do for the team, I'll do it. I think that as time goes on you'll see more of my game develop." When asked about his relationship with Golson, Zaire provided both a dip- lomatic and forthright answer. "It's any natural relationship when it comes to what is perceived as a compe- tition," Zaire said. "It's striving to get each other better. At the same time, we realize it's not about us; it's about the other 10 guys on the field with us. The more we focus on winning games as an offensive unit, and not so much as a position battle, then I think our relation- ship will continue the way it is." With plenty of competition still ahead. ✦ Zaire rushed for a team-high 96 yards and also completed 12 of 15 passes for 96 yards in the Music City Bowl win versus LSU. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA