How Malik Zaire Compares to Past 1st-Year Starting QBs at Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team continues to gear up for its season opener against the Texas Longhorns, which is now just six weeks away.
When the Irish take the field against the Longhorns at Notre Dame Stadium, quarterback Malik Zaire will be making his second career start. With high expectations for the Irish in 2015, what can Notre Dame fans expect from Zaire in his first season as a starter?
The southpaw’s collegiate resume consists of seven games, 35 pass attempts, 21 completions, 266 yards, one passing score, two rushing touchdowns and 187 rushing yards on 33 carries.
Let’s take a look at other recent first-year starting quarterbacks at Notre Dame, breaking down their first seasons under center.
| Player | First Year with Multiple Starts | Team Record | Completion Percentage | Touchdowns to Interceptions | Pass Attempts per Game |
| Everett Golson | 2012 | 12-1 | 59% | 12-6 | 26.5 |
| Tommy Rees | 2010 | 8-5 | 61% | 12-8 | 32.8 |
| Jimmy Clausen | 2007 | 3-9 | 56% | 7-6 | 26.6 |
| Brady Quinn | 2003 | 5-7 | 47% | 9-15 | 33.9 |
Everett Golson
Throughout spring practice, when Zaire and fifth-year quarterback Everett Golson were competing for the starting job, Golson was the signal-caller boasting all the experience.
But in 2012, Golson was settling into his first season as the starter and was, of course, sometimes relieved by Tommy Rees, who had started 12 games in 2011.
In Notre Dame's undefeated regular season in 2012, Golson completed 59 percent of his passes for 2,405 yards. Averaging nearly 27 pass attempts per game, Golson tallied 12 touchdown tosses against six interceptions.
Golson had no prior game experience after redshirting in 2011.
Tommy Rees
Before Golson, Rees quarterbacked the Irish, first for four games in 2010 as a true freshman and then in 12 starts in 2011.
In leading Notre Dame to four wins down the stretch in 2010, Rees finished his rookie campaign by completing 61 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Then as the starter in 2011, after replacing Dayne Crist at halftime of Notre Dame’s eventual season-opening loss to South Florida, Rees upped his completion percentage to 66, gunning for 2,871 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Jimmy Clausen
Jimmy Clausen started 24 games for the Irish between 2008 and 2009. Prior to that, the highly touted prep star earned his first career start as a true freshman in 2007 in Week 2 against Penn State, following a season-opening 33-3 beatdown at the hands of Georgia Tech inside Notre Dame Stadium.
Clausen wound up making eight more starts in 2007, completing 56 percent of his passes and recording only seven touchdown passes to six interceptions. Of course, in 2008 and 2009, Clausen eventually edged onto the path paved in 2005 and 2006 by Brady Quinn.
But as the Week 2 starter in 2007, Clausen set a mark for the earliest any Irish freshman quarterback had started since 1972, and the returns weren’t immediately rosy in a 3-9 season.
Brady Quinn
Coming off a 10-3 season in 2002, the Irish entered the second year of head coach Tyrone Willingham's reign with Carlyle Holiday under center.
Notre Dame followed a season-opening overtime win over Washington State with consecutive losses to Michigan (38-0) and Michigan State (22-16). For Week 4 in West Lafayette, Indiana, Quinn grabbed the starting nod against Purdue.
The 6’4” Ohio product never looked back, starting for the Irish over the next four seasons. But in that initial freshman campaign, Quinn completed just 47 percent of his passes, chucking 15 interceptions to nine touchdowns.
Now, Zaire is entering his third full season at Notre Dame and will have had a full summer to prepare as the starter. Moreover, it’s worth monitoring Zaire’s pass attempts per game, given the run-based approach utilized successfully against LSU in the Music City Bowl and the way Golson managed the offense and limited turnovers in 2012.
Zaire steps into a more enviable position than Quinn, Clausen and Rees did when taking over as the starter. With a full cupboard of returning starters and upperclassmen, Notre Dame's outlook this year resembles the situation into which Golson stepped in 2012.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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