Malik Zaire is dominant in Irish victory

Malik Zaire had Irish eyes smiling. The Longhorns had the eyes of Texas wishing they could look away.

Zaire passed for 313 yards in his first home start, and No. 11 Notre Dame held Texas to 163 yards of total offense in a 38-3 victory Saturday night.

Zaire was 19 for 22 passing, an 86.6% completion rate that was second-best in school history. Steve Beuerlein completed 10 of 11 passes against Colorado in 1984, a 90.9% completion rate.

Will Fuller caught a pair of touchdown passes — one a 66-yarder — and finished with 142 yards receiving. Chris Brown added a six-yard touchdown catch. Freshman Josh Adams ran for a pair of touchdowns, including a 14-yard score on his first career carry, and C.J. Prosise added 98 yards rushing in 20 carries.

Notre Dame took advantage of an inexperienced Longhorns squad starting three players who were in high school a year ago, amassing 527 yards of total offense.

The Irish improved to 9-2 against Texas, and to 10-2 in home night games.

The Longhorns, coming off a 6-7 season, lost a season opener for the first time since 1999. It also marked their third straight blowout loss, finishing 2014 losing, 48-10, to Texas Christian and 31-7 to Arkansas.

The Texas offense started the season where it finished off last season, ranking 105th in total offense, as it struggled to get anything going.

Tyrone Swoopes was seven for 22 passing for 93 yards, and Jerrod Heard completed his only pass for 10 yards.