However, on third down he bumped up to 8-11, 72%, 110 yards and a touchdown. In the second half against USC and his start against LSU, Zaire was his inconsistent self on 1st and 2nd down: 13-24, 54% 156 yards, zero touchdowns or interceptions. By contrast, in a small sample size for Zaire, we see the complete opposite trend. While Golson did improve from 2012 to 2014 he was still below average on the most important downs for an offense. In his two years as the starting quarterback Golson was 52-110 (47%) for 641 yards, 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on money downs. These are the money downs for a team and its quarterback. Throughout his career at Notre Dame, Everett Golson was at his worst on 3rd down with between 4-9 yards needed for a first down to keep the drive going.
Where can Zaire succeed that Golson could not? A look at the stats points to two very important areas, with an assist from incoming offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Mike Sanford. But, given all of his success, he has been benched on four separate occasions and turned the ball over at an alarming rate in 2014.
There are a litany of teams that would be very happy with Golson being their starter, including Notre Dame. Golson also achieved team success while the lone starting quarterback, leading Notre Dame to an undefeated regular season in 2012 and started 7-1 this last year. Golson is not the runner Zaire is, but he did run for eight touchdowns last season (including a 61 yarder for a touchdown), and Golson also has 14 rushing touchdowns for his career. His physical skills are superior to Zaire’s both possess very strong arms, Golson’s accuracy and ability to throw on the run on unmatched from Zaire. The questions still loom, did Notre Dame just lose its best quarterback and best chance to realize its potential in 2015? I think most who follow the program would agree that Golson, on paper, is the better player. It was the type of performance that made many hopeful the Fighting Irish could be successful with Zaire as their leader, especially given the rumors of Golson’s possible departure. Zaire contributed 22 carries for 96 yards in that game to go along with a touchdown. A run heavy offense is what Notre Dame displayed in Zaire’s lone start against LSU they ran the ball 51 times for 263 yards and three touchdowns in their 31-28 victory. In some ways, the insertion of Zaire is welcome to fans he is an excellent runner and is an inconsistent passer, a fact that they hope will force coach Kelly to focus on the former as the backbone of the offense. This leaves Zaire as the clear starting quarterback heading into 2015, back up DeShone Kizer has no playing experience and saw close to zero reps while Zaire and Golson battled it out in spring practice the only other scholarship quarterback, freshman Brandon Wimbush, will not take part in an official practice till August. With the possibility of two quarterback system looming, Golson is taking his recently earned degree and pursuing interests unrelated to the Notre Dame football team. Head coach Brian Kelly proclaimed the two would compete for the starting spot in the spring, but it had become apparent throughout practice that while Golson was the far superior passer, Zaire was too good of a runner to keep off the field. The quarterback, who at the start of his time at Notre Dame seemed to be the player fans of the program had dreamed of, fell out of favor following his first season in which he led Notre Dame to a national title berth he was kicked out of school following an academic cheating scandal and after a strong start to the season in 2014, turned the ball over 22 times in the final 9 games and was subsequently benched for sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire. Last week the tumultuous career of former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson came to a surprising, yet not shocking end.