The Notre Dame football team will be without quarterback Malik Zaire for the rest of the season after the star suffered a fractured ankle against Virginia over the weekend. Brian Kelly brought in Deshone Kizer for Zaire in the game and now he likely will start moving forward for ND.
The Irish were able to pull out the win against Virginia 34-27 despite losing their starter and now he will be out for the season. According to CBS sports, Kelly said that Zaire suffered a fractured ankle and he will not be recovered in time to play again this year. Kelly added that Zaire is expected to be back in time for spring workouts and that he should make a full recovery.
One player doesn't make a team in college football, but Zaire was looking impressive to open the season and it came as Notre Dame has college football playoff aspirations. The team is ranked in the top 25 and they are now 2-0, but they will have to move forward with a new quarterback. Zaire was impressive against Texas in the 38-3 win for Notre Dame, but now he is done for the year and gives way to Kizer as the team starts a tough run on the schedule.
The Irish next play against Georgia Tech and they are also ranked and now Kelly could look at changing the strategy in that game. Zaire is an athletic player with rushing ability and with Kizer in, things will be different for the offense. Kizer threw the winning score to Will Fuller to get the win on Saturday and he will have to continue playing well for the Irish to stay in the mix. C.J. Prosise likely will also get more work with Kizer in and he comes in with over 250 yards rushing already.
Kizer looked impressive on the final score, throwing from his own 50 and getting the ball right into the arms of Fuller, who raced up the left sideline. The ball was perfectly placed in the front corner of the endzone near the goal line and that was enough to get the win.
