In both teams' season opener, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish blew out the Texas Longhorns, 38-3. The Irish backups were in with more than nine minutes left to play in the game. It was a near-perfect start for Notre Dame, while things couldn't have gone much worse for Texas. Here are four things we learned from Notre Dame's 38-3 stomping of Texas.
Malik Zaire Could Be Really Good
What a first game of the season for Zaire. He didn't play the whole game, but still completed 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had as many incompletions as he had touchdowns, including this dime to a wide-open Will Fuller.
Hey, @biletnikoffawrd... ...we think you should see this. FACT:Fuller now has 18 career TD rec. (T-8th all time @ND) pic.twitter.com/2NM8Wn0kvg
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 6, 2015
If Zaire keeps playing this well and Notre Dame keeps winning, he'll force himself into the Heisman conversation.
This Texas Offense Is Bad
Ideally for Texas fans, Notre Dame's defense is just really, really good. But still, the Texas offense was anemic all game. Tyrone Swoopes completed 7 of 22 passes for only 93 yards. He chipped in a mere 17 yards on the ground, in large part because of sacks he took. Jerrod Heard barely played and Strong's decision to keep Swoopes in for the most of the game indicates this will be Swoopes' team, for better or for worse. Johnathan Gray must have more than eight touches next time out. That's not nearly enough for Texas' best offensive player. To be fair, Texas struggled getting on the offensive line and they were down big for much of the game. Still, Gray needs more opportunities to make plays. Even Jordan Spieth wasn't a fan of Texas' offense.
Texas' offense looking about as useful as my last 4 rounds....
— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) September 6, 2015
Ouch.
Texas' Rebuilding Will Take Time
Perhaps we already knew this one, but watching Texas get blown out by Notre Dame leaves no doubts. Charlie Strong is rebuilding and it looks like winning the Big 12 isn't in the immediate plans. That's not what Texas fans want to hear, and for good reason. The offense was awful against the Irish and the defense, outside of Malik Jefferson, wasn't much better. Texas has some promising freshmen, but if they don't improve fast, then this might become a common facial expression for Texas fans.
Notre Dame Could Be Playoff Bound
Yeah, Notre Dame looked that good. They dominated Texas in every single facet of the game. Even the loss of Tarean Folston didn't slow down Notre Dame. C.J. Prosise and true freshman Josh Adams combined for 25 carries, 147 yards and two scores. Maybe it turns out that Texas is really bad this year and Notre Dame actually isn't that good, but confidence has to be high for Notre Dame and its fans.
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