Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 31 you go out there to have some fun. You have to prepare to get hit and to execute." Even in practices, Rice did not don a red jersey to indicate to the defense that he was not to be hit. "When you have something different on from what the team did, then you're an indi- vidual and I never liked that," Rice said. "I don't like it now because you want to be part of a team. Just blow the whistle early if you want to or have to [in practice], but don't put on the red jersey." Interestingly, Kelly took the red jerseys off his quarterbacks in preparation for the bowl game against LSU, and Zaire said it enhanced his game and allowed his leader- ship skills to show a little more. "I feel like I'm more natural when I'm in there in more game-mode situations and more contact," Zaire said last December. "I play with a lot of emotion, and when they hit you. … You definitely get beat up here and there, but I think live is something we needed as an offensive unit and it's something that we need individually. We've had a lot of turnovers on offense so it's important for us to get that contact and work on holding on to the ball. … It definitely helped us a lot." Unlike Rice, who averaged only 10 to 15 passes per game in his time, Zaire might still be asked to throw 30 times a game. Thus, there has to be prudence in how the game is managed with regard to him absorbing so many hits. Not much can aid an explosive passing game more than a running threat at quarter- back. Defenses that crowd the ball against running threats at quarterback often get burned deep, especially off play action. When the Irish defeated No. 1 Miami in 1988, Rice's eight completions totaled 195 yards, or 24.4 yards per catch. When it top- pled West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl to win the title, Rice's seven completions were good for 213 yards, or 30 yards for each catch. Then when safeties had to play back far- ther … "That opened up a lot of opportunities for me to run the ball because of the distance they had to come from to get the tackle," Rice said. "We had so many weapons. They couldn't focus on one guy. "Any play you can get hurt, but you ap- proach it as I'm going to try to hit that guy first before he hits me. Just play solid football." Notre Dame did in its Music City Bowl upset of LSU last December. The plan is to make that a season-long endeavor in 2015. ✦ "We feel like he has to be who he is, and our offense has to be structured around what his strengths are. He has to be part of the running game, and the running game will be as effective as him being one of the options that we have." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON MALIK ZAIRE NOTRE DAME'S BEST RUSHING QUARTERBACKS Junior quarterback Malik Zaire wants to shed the label that he is primarily a read-option threat in the offense. "I take offense to it in the sense that people don't just really know, people haven't seen everything I can do yet because I haven't been playing as much," Zaire said. "You can't say they're wrong for it because that's what I've been called to do, so whatever it takes to do for the team, I'll do it. "I think that as time goes on, you'll see more of my game develop." With good health, it would not be a bad bet for Zaire to be the fourth Notre Dame quarterback in a season to eclipse 500 rushing yards. Mobile quarterbacks who accrued positive yardage as runners were a prized auxiliary element of champi- onship offenses run by Ara Parseghian (1964-74) and Lou Holtz (1986-96). Including bowl games, here are the top 10 rushing totals in one year at Notre Dame: Rk. QB (Year) Att.-Yds.-TD 1. Tony Rice (1989) 188-934-7 2. Tony Rice (1988) 134-775-9 3. Carlyle Holiday (2001) 156-666-2 4. Paul Hornung (1955) 92-472-6 5. Jarious Jackson (1999) 140-464-7 6. Jarious Jackson (1998) 125-453-4 7. Tom Clements (1973) 104-434-4 8. Joe Theismann (1969) 127-426-6 9. Paul Hornung (1956) 94-420-6 10. Joe Theismann (1970) 142-406-6 Rice didn't win the Heisman like Hornung, didn't have as many 100-yard games as Carlyle Holiday's three (Rice had two), and he didn't possess Jackson's power. But he was to Notre Dame what James Street was to Texas (1968-69), Steve Davis to Oklahoma (1972-74), Darian Hagan to Colorado (1989-90) and Tommie Frazier to Nebraska (1994-95) on back-to-back cham- pionship-level programs. In other notes: • Zaire almost reached the 100-yard rushing total last season in the win versus LSU (96). The last time a Notre Dame QB achieved the feat was Holiday with 109 yards in a 21-17 loss at Boston College in 2001. • The most yards rushing in a game by a Notre Dame quarterback was by backup Bill Etter during a 47-0 romp against Navy in 1969. Etter rushed for 146 yards on 11 carries, highlighted by a 79-yard score. Rice is second with 141 yards on 26 attempts in a 34-23 win at Penn State in 1989. • Rice's 23 career rushing touchdowns are the most by a Notre Dame quarterback. No. 2 was his successor, Rick Mirer, who had 17. The No. 2 pick in the 1993 NFL Draft rushed for 717 yards during his Irish career. • Rice's 2,049 yards rushing are the most in an Irish career by a quarterback. Two others eclipsed 1,000: Clements (1972-74) rushed for 1,148 and 12 touchdowns, while Theismann (1968-70) accumulated 1,091 and 16 touchdowns. — Lou Somogyi