How Notre Dame QB Malik Zaire Can Be Even Better

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Even after a sterling performance against Texas in the season opener Saturday, Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly and quarterback Malik Zaire have a sharp sense of reality.

“I would probably default back to the old adage that, when you watch film with us, it's never as good as you think, and it's never quite as bad,” Kelly said.

In just his second career start—and his first at Notre Dame Stadium—Zaire completed 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns. The lefty impressed Kelly and outsiders alike with his accuracy through the air.

“The days that he's getting heaps and heaps of praise, there's a lot of things we've got to work on,” Kelly said. “And the days where he's getting a lot of blame, it probably wasn't all on him. I think it falls more towards he did a lot of really good things, but there's a lot of room for growth and improvement there.”

So, quite simply, where can Zaire improve moving forward? Sure, he was terrific against the Longhorns, peppering throws across the middle and along the sidelines and heaving a few long balls to star speedster Will Fuller. But can Zaire not only sustain that level of play, but also build on it as the schedule ramps up?

“He’s always focused. He’s always trying to get better,” senior running back C.J. Prosise said of his quarterback. “He played a great game on Saturday. But he doesn’t want that to be his best game.”

Ask Kelly where, specifically, Zaire can get better, and the head coach points to communication issues with protection and cadence. Kelly also said Zaire’s nine rushes—which totaled just 16 yards—should have produced more like 60 or 70 yards.

“We had some alignment issues,” Zaire said. “We had some things that going fast-paced a lot of things can be out of whack. But being aligned is first and foremost, and some of those things were crucial in making the reads a little bit different. So we fixed those this week.”

Kelly added that Zaire may have been a little anxious running the read option and said top running back Tarean Folston’s first-quarter injury could have played a role too, as Prosise stepped into the lead role after Folston exited with what proved to be a torn ACL. Zaire said he spent extra time in practice this week working with Prosise.

“I think it’s communication on our protections and stuff,” Prosise said of his focus with Zaire. “I think that’s probably one of the biggest ones. Sometimes he’s changing protections a lot, so it’s kinda hard.”

As for the zone read, Prosise said he’s comfortable with Zaire, echoing the quarterback’s comments about his comfort with three running backs—Prosise and freshmen Josh Adams and Dexter Williams—who, though inexperienced, all logged reps throughout the summer.

“We’ve gotten used to each other at this point,” Prosise said. “So I think we’ve done a good job with the read option. He’s always ready to pull it, so you have to be ready to have a soft handoff.”

For his part, Prosise carried 20 times for 98 yards in his first game since transitioning from slot receiver to running back. But with Folston out for the season, the Irish will need Zaire to factor into the rushing attack as he did in the Music City Bowl victory over LSU, when Zaire piled up 96 yards and a score on 22 attempts.

Zaire was outstanding against Texas. His areas for improvement, which require some nitpicking after a 35-point shellacking, are correctable, as Kelly said.

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.