While the Longhorns struggled to
protect their quarterback, the same
couldn't be said about Notre Dame,
which started a cast of veterans along
the offensive line. Zaire had plenty of
time under center and finished a siz-
zling 19-of-22 passing (86.4 percent
completion rate) for 313 yards with
three touchdowns and no intercep-
tions. He became the fifth Notre Dame
quarterback in school history to eclipse
300 yards passing in a season opener.
"We believed in Malik," Kelly said
when asked about Zaire. "We trusted
him. … We put him in a good position
to succeed.
"The game plan was such that we
wanted to run the football. I thought
we did that and gave him some throws
that we thought would really be high
percentage for him. It worked out very
well for him."
Zaire completed passes to seven dif-
ferent receivers, and if it weren't for
a pair of drops he would have con-
nected with eight.
"He played a damn near perfect
game for us," Fuller said. "I wasn't
surprised at all. I knew he was going
to get the job done. I don't think any-
one in the country is as prepared as we
were for this first game."
Texas' three points were the lowest
in a season opener for the Longhorns
since 1950.
"It shows the true detail to the de-
fense and the way that we commu-
nicate and just scramble to the ball,"
Smith said.
Adams, who wasn't expected to be
featured in the Notre Dame offense,
proved to be one of the stars, when
Zaire wasn't looking to Fuller. After
starting running back Tarean Folston
