Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/514677
BY BRYAN DRISKELL D uring Notre Dame's 31‑28 vic‑ tory versus LSU in the Music City Bowl last December, Notre Dame followers learned that quarterback Malik Zaire is a dynamic playmaker — at least with his legs. En route to game MVP honors, Zaire posted 22 carries for 96 yards, the most rushing attempts by a Notre Dame quarterback since Carlyle Holiday's 22 rushes for 109 yards in a 21‑17 loss at Boston College in 2001. It also tied for the second most carries by an Irish quarterback in a game, behind only Tony Rice's 26 (for 141 yards) in a 34‑23 win at Penn State in 1989. The passing attack with Zaire was conservative but efficient — he con‑ nected on 12 of 15 throws for 96 yards — with Everett Golson inserted more in passing situations to keep three scoring drives, including the game‑ winner, alive. An offense with Zaire at quarterback is going to look dramatically different than anything Notre Dame has had un‑ der head coach Brian Kelly. What it is going to look like over the course of an entire season remains uncertain. The game plan against LSU might serve as a foundation, but it is just a small part of what is needed to have a champion‑ ship‑caliber offense. Kelly has tried to mold his offenses around the strengths of his quarter‑ back. What he did with Dayne Crist looked a lot different than what he did with Tommy Rees. What he did with Rees was a lot different than what he did with Golson. Zaire possesses a different skill set than the other quarterbacks Kelly has had at Notre Dame. Like Crist and Golson, though, Zaire has a strong arm. He can take the top off the de‑ fense, drill the ball into tight down‑ field windows and he can throw darts on the deep sideline routes. The lefty is also the rawest of Kelly's quarterbacks as a passer from an expe‑ rience and fundamentals standpoint. Zaire did not push Golson by wowing the coaches with his passing savvy or ability to zip through progressions with ease. What Zaire brings to the Notre Dame offense is when the ball is in his hands, he plays the game like a 6‑0, 222‑pound tailback. This does not mean the days of burn‑ ing teams through the air are gone. Rather it signals building a ground and aerial attack that uses Zaire's di‑ verse talents to his advantage. Build‑ ing the offense around Zaire will mean a bit of a change from what Kelly has done his first five years in South Bend. Zaire in the starting role does not require a brand new playbook, but it does necessitate tweaks that allow the threat of a running quarterback to impact defenses to a greater de‑ gree. During the middle of Kelly's 12‑0 season at Cincinnati in 2009, starting quarterback Tony Pike went down with an injury. His replacement, Zach Collaros, was a mobile quarterback whose best attribute was his running ability. Collaros came off the bench in a win over South Florida to rush for 132 yards. Over a span of five games, Col‑ laros passed for 1,305 yards, rushed