Blue and Gold Illustrated

1 It is believed that junior Malik Zaire is the first left-handed Fighting Irish quarterback ever to complete a touchdown pass in Notre Dame Stadium. He did it with 6:29 left in the first quarter to spot the Fighting Irish a 7-0 lead. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI What Worked • Establish The Line. Statistically, the Notre Dame air attack carried the day, with junior quar- terback Malik Zaire shredding Texas for 313 passing yards and three touchdowns. As good as Zaire was, though, the ground attack fueled the offensive onslaught. Notre Dame's offensive line suffered through early jitters (two first-quarter false starts), but settled in and established a fierce ground attack. Great movement along the line allowed the Notre Dame running backs to churn out 58 yards on nine carries in the opening quarter. Eventually the Longhorns wore down and Notre Dame's ground game took over. With the run game rolling along, Notre Dame went to the air, and the Irish line gave Zaire plenty of time to throw. The Texas defensive backs were forced to focus on the run, and Zaire took ad- vantage, hitting junior wideout Will Fuller for a 66-yard touchdown and a 30-yard strike, both off play action. • Front Four Dominance. Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder is known for his intricate pressure packages, but the dominating play of his defensive line allowed him to save most of those for another day. The defense was effective thanks largely to the strong play from the front. Texas simply couldn't handle the Notre Dame line, and it began immediately. Notre Dame reg- istered four sacks, racked up seven tackles for loss and produced eight quarterback hurries. The constant disruption kept Texas out of sync, and the Longhorns crossed midfield just three times. Notre Dame's ability to pressure the quarterback with the front four allowed the Irish linebackers to focus more on stopping the quarterback runs. The two Longhorn quarterbacks combined for just five rushing yards on 12 attempts. The pressure also gave VanGorder the ability to play tighter cover- age with his cornerbacks, forcing Texas to throw more downfield passes, something it rarely had time to do. • Spread The Wealth. Zaire was the statistical standout, but the Notre Dame offense showed off its depth in the opener. The Irish's five running backs combined for 190 rushing yards on 37 car- ries. Zaire completed at least one pass to seven dif- ferent receivers and five of those receivers caught at least two passes. Notre Dame's ability to spread the ball around prevented Texas from keying in on one player. The Irish also showed good balance on the of- fensive side of the ball. With the game out of hand, Notre Dame ran the ball on 11 of its final 13 plays. Prior to that finish, the Irish showed exceptional balance, striking through the air and pounding Texas on the ground. What Didn't Work • False Starts And Tackles For Losses. When you blow out a historic program 38-3 and outgain that opponent by a 527-163 margin it is hard to find much that did not work. However, there are im- provements that need to be made on the offensive side of the ball. Notre Dame's line had four false starts, and Texas racked up nine tackles for loss. Communication problems led to those mistakes, many of which came in the first half. Once the line settled down it rolled Texas. — Bryan Driskell TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

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