SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Malik Zaire walked up the tunnel beyond the north end zone, reached atop his still-dripping head and grabbed his red camouflage hat. He flipped it above the railings into the crowd, only for it to tumble back down to the cement.
Outside of that incompletion, the Irish quarterback did little wrong in No. 11 Notre Dame’s 38-3 drubbing of Texas on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in the season opener.
“I think we put him in a good position to succeed,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said of Zaire, who completed 19-of-22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns.