Notre Dame Football: Evaluating Malik Zaire's Performance Against USC

Notre Dame fans finally got their first extended look at sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire on Saturday. Inserted by Brian Kelly after Everett Golson's first six drives ended with four punts and two turnovers, Zaire provided a much-needed spark to the Irish offense. 

Sure, it came after it was already too late (the Irish's injury-decimated defense had already given up five touchdowns). But Zaire's strong running and better than expected passing gave Kelly and the Irish's offensive staff an unexpected quarterback controversy in the final game of the regular season. 

After Zaire lost a quarterback battle that started in spring ball and continued into fall camp, Kelly refused to pull Golson, even as the turnovers continued to pile up. That leads you to wonder about a battle that now seems more orchestrated than actual. 

But that changes now. In the wake of the Irish's blowout loss to USC, Kelly was unwilling to make a decision on the status of Golson's starting job. 

"I really don’t have an answer for you," Kelly said in his brief postgame comments. "We tried to get a spark offensively, and I think Malik gave us that spark.

"I really will need some time before I make any decisions on the quarterback situation."

With the Irish still awaiting their bowl assignment, they will get back to the practice field with an eye toward the future. That means a battle between Golson and Zaire—one that'll surely be more than just lip service after last Saturday. 

Let's take a closer look at Zaire's performance on Saturday against USC. 

Zaire As a Passer

It didn't take long for Zaire to show off an accurate arm. Zaire spotted junior Chris Brown in man coverage and threw a well-placed ball that Brown caught and took for 49 yards. It wasn't anything flashy, but give Zaire credit for good ball placement and making his first throw count.

After waiting 12 games to get the chance, Zaire's reaction sprinting down the field after the play was telling—regardless of what the scoreboard said, he was juiced. 

In Zaire's first two-minute situation, the Irish seemed reluctant to try and move quickly, giving the ball to Cam McDaniel twice. But on 3rd-and-2, Zaire drilled a post route to Corey Robinson, delivering the throw on time and in the perfect window. The 19-yard gain put the Irish in business.

Zaire missed his next throw high, trying to squeeze a ball in to Chris Brown. He missed again on second down, again targeting Brown in man coverage. Neither throw was particularly close. But on 3rd-and-10, Zaire moved the chains when he hit William Fuller. It was a nice throw along the sideline to a hole in the Trojans' zone defense. 

The up-tempo drive ultimately stalled out and ended with no points after Kyle Brindza hit the left upright with his field-goal attempt. But in Zaire's first test, he seemed to make the right decision with the football, spotting single coverage, even if he didn't always connect. 

In the second half, Zaire's numbers faded—though not necessarily through any fault of his own. Amir Carlisle dropped a pretty throw by Zaire as he was rolling to his right. Will Fuller dropped the next throw, which was another chance to move the chains.

Fuller couldn't reel in another well-placed deep ball from Zaire that could've produced a touchdown. It was a nice throw that Fuller needs to (and usually does) catch. But the young quarterback also missed a few throws on his own, short-arming an easy connection on a scramble and air-mailing a short screen pass.

While he turned the ball over on downs in his fourth quarter red-zone appearance, it's hard to categorize Zaire's debut as a passer as anything less than a success. His final stat line (9-of-20 for 170 yards) could've easily been 13 of 20 for 270 yards and a touchdown—numbers that would've had Irish fans clamoring for even more playing time. 

Harry How/Getty Images

Zaire as a Runner

After giving the ball to Greg Bryant on his first snap and hitting Brown for a big gainer on his second, Zaire ran the zone read perfectly, reading the edge of USC's defense before pulling the ball from Bryant and taking off for the end zone. 

Zaire beat USC cornerback Josh Shaw to the pylon and stretched the ball over it, scoring the Irish's first points of the afternoon in just three plays. 

To open the second half, Zaire hit the Trojans with another big gain on the zone read. He and Bryant continued to show chemistry in the backfield, with Bryant ripping off some big gainers while Zaire showed the right decision-making skills on his own keepers (preferring to get out of bounds rather than take on a tackler). 

Zaire showed the ability to evade trouble with his legs, buying time to find open receivers. But more importantly, his ability to run the football opened up some lanes for Bryant, who had his best game in an Irish uniform in a second half that was mostly meaningless for the Trojans defense. 

Zaire As a Leader

Perhaps the best performance Zaire had was after the game. Surrounded by a dozen reporters, Zaire was confident, poised and natural. He acted like a starting quarterback who's done this for years, not a first-year contributor finally getting into a football game. 

While playing the body language game is usually dangerous, Zaire's energy—both on the sidelines dealing with his teammates and in the huddle—seemed to be a commanding presence. While a winning attitude doesn't necessarily mean a winning quarterback, Zaire's postgame comments had to be music to the ears of not just Irish fans, but also his coaching staff. 

"The only message I wanted to convey was that we need to play with a lot of heart and that we need to have a no-quit attitude," Zaire said after the game. "I felt like we were in the game until the clock hit zero. We cannot quit. And we need to play with a lot of heart even when the scoreboard says something different."

*Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.