Malik Zaire, Deshone Kizer in ‘wide open race’ for 2016 starting job

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are returning a lot of their 2015 roster for next season and they look to be a contender for the College Football Playoff. Last season, they seemed to be a lot of trouble when they were faced with a number of injuries.

One of the injured players was starting quarterback Malik Zaire. He broke his ankle in the second game of the season against Virginia, which forced sophomore Deshone Kizer to come in to lead the offense.

He ended up doing a very good job and led the team to an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Head coach Brian Kelly is now faced with good problem to have: two very talented quarterbacks competing for the starting job.

He joined FOX Sports’ podcast The Audible and said that the race between two is pretty far from being over.

“We’ll let those two kids…compete old-fashion (for the starting job). It’ll be wide open and let the best man win,” Kelly said on the show.

In Zaire’s absence, Kizer threw for 2,880 yards and 21 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 525 yards and 10 touchdowns.

It’s pretty safe to say that Notre Dame fans are in for a wild ride in this quarterback race.

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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports

North Dakota State releases 2015 highlight video
North Dakota State releases 2015 highlight video