SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Malik Zaire played one snap in Notre Dame’s waterlogged loss to N.C. State, tagging in for DeShone Kizer after the redshirt junior quarterback impressively fought for a first down on fourth-and-two on that last-ditch fourth quarter drive at Carter-Finley Stadium.
After one play, on which Zaire lost a yard sliding on a run, Kizer was inserted back into the game. Notre Dame went on to lose the game, effectively, on a snap miscommunication between Kizer and the offensive line on another fourth-down try in the N.C. State red zone.
Former Irish running back C.J. Prosise tweeted a quick reaction to Zaire’s abbreviated stint in the game:
While Kelly said he “kind of” considered inserting Zaire — an accomplished runner — into the slop on Saturday, there haven’t been many other opportunities for Zaire to get on the field. Kelly gave him a start against Duke at wide receiver, and he ran two plays in which he took handoffs from Kizer and looked to run or throw.
Both those plays were ineffective, and Kelly tersely said after the game “you won’t see that again.”
So outside of the first half and first series of the Texas game and a handful of garbage-time snaps, Zaire has largely been relegated to the sidelines this year despite being described by Kelly as one of the team’s five best playmakers before the season.
“We were trying to figure out how we could get both of them on the field and you saw we tried to throw it,” Kelly said of that package that included Zaire against Duke. “But, you know, we were trying to fit something that just wasn't there.”
If this were any other year in the Kelly era, Zaire would almost certainly be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback (over 2010 Dayne Crist/Tommy Rees, 2011 Rees, 2012 Everett Golson, 2013 Rees, 2014 Golson) after he earned that role to begin the 2015 season. But in 2016, he’s stuck behind the best quarterback Notre Dame has had since Brady Quinn in Kizer, who could go on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Zaire has another year of eligibility remaining after this season and would have the option to leave Notre Dame and play immediately elsewhere as a graduate transfer (even if he and Kizer aren’t around next year, the Irish offense still should be in good hands with Brandon Wimbush likely taking over).
But for now, if there wasn’t a role for him at N.C. State, there doesn’t appear to be one for Zaire the rest of the season barring an injury to Kizer.
“Make him a wide receiver or running back — that's not why he came here,” Kelly said. ‘I’m not going to insult him into moving his position. He's a quarterback and a darn good one. So once I decided that it was going to be difficult to manage both of them, I had to make the decision not to get the five best guys on the field.”