It's always good to win the opening game. It's always good to win the game impressively. Notre Dame did both those things last Saturday in routing Texas, 38--3, in South Bend.

But for Irish fans the play of quarterback Malik Zaire and the offensive line must have been the most satisfying part of the game of the night. Of course, in any game there are pluses, minuses and then reality check time.The pluses, besides Zaire was the big offensive line of the Irish, not only protecting Zaire but also opening some big holes for the Irish running attack. ND racked up 214 rushing yards along with 313 passing for a total offense of 527 yards for the night. ND spread the ball around with seven players catching the football. Defensively, the Irish front showed some real promise not only stuffing the Texas run game but also putting pressure on the QB. The Irish secondary did a creditable job. There was also notable improvement in the special teams with the kickoff and punt coverages much better than a year ago. The punt return part of the game needs some improvement.Zaire finished 19 of 22 for 313 yards, 3 touchdowns. Top rusher was C.J. Prosise with 20 rushes for 98 yards and freshman Josh Adams getting 49 yards on five carries and 2 TDs. Freshman kicker Justin Yoon had 1 of 2 field goals (made 38, missed 45).The minuses for the night were somewhat small. The motion penalties by the offensive line could be attributed to the crowd, which was very loud, and the hype that went with the game. Also, the kickoffs by Tyler Newsome need to improve as does his punts.The biggest minus was something that no one planned on. It was the loss of running back Tarean Folston on his third carry of the night. Head coach Brian Kelly announced Sunday that Folston a right knee injury, tearing his ACL. He is lost for the season. Folston was the number one running back returning for the Irish and leaves them with only Prosise, a senior, and Adams. Prosise is a converted running back. In fact, he was slated to be a slot back for pass routes more than anything else now will be the starting running back. Adams is only a freshman and time will tell about him. Another freshman, who will now move into the picture, is Dexter Williams. Williams will rotate with Prosise. The Irish were planning to redshirt Williams this year, but that has changed due to Folston's injury. When Greg Bryant was ruled academically ineligible in the summer, he transferred out. At the time many felt that the Irish would be ok without him as a backup to Folston. Now his loss hurts even more.The reality of the game is this, Texas' offensive line started two freshmen which helped the bigger and more experience defensive line of the Irish control the line of scrimmage. Also, Texas was weak offensively from the get-go. Lets face it Texas is no Southern Cal.More on the game later.Today the Irish are on the road to Virginia. It is the second meeting between the two schools and ND's first visit to the state of Virginia. ND and the Cavaliers last played in 1989 with ND on top, 36-13. Virginia lost their opener last week at UCLA, 34-16. The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.The Cavaliers are led by QB Matt Johns, who completed 21 of 35 passes last week. Top running backs are Taquan Mizzell and Albert Reed. Mizzell was also the top receiver last week for Virginia.IRISH NOTES: Other game stats. Williams carried 7 times for 24 yards, and Zaire 9 for 16. Receiving has Will Fuller with 7 catches for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns; Amir Carlisle 3-55; Chris Brown, 3-38, and a score; Corey Robinson, 2-35; and Torii Hunter Jr., 2-31.....The defensive leaders were Jaylon Smith with 7 tackles; Joe Schmidt 6; and Elijah Shumate 4. Smith, Romeo Okwara, Sheldon Day and Jerry Tillery each had a sack....Zaire's performance put him at number 3 in the nation in passing efficiency for the first full weekend of college football....Four Irish players made their first career starts - junior wide receiver Hunter, sophomore offensive guard Quenton Nelson, junior tight end Durham Smythe and sophomore nose guard Daniel Cage. Freshmen making their debuts included Adams, cornerback Nick Coleman, linebacker Te'von Coney, tight end Alize Jones, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, punt returner C.J. Sanders, defensive lineman Tillery and placekicker Yoon....ND came into the game with a 28-5-1 mark all-time against the current members of the Big 12 Conference....The construction project at ND stadium, Campus Crossroads Project, has apparently up the noise decibels in the stadium. ND will change its cadence approach for the next home game, the same it uses for away games....Adams is from Pennsylvania, having played high school at Central Bucks South in Warrington....The game was a ratings hit for NBC. The game drew 4.1 million viewers for a 2.42 rating....Zaire is now listed as a 14-1 shot to win the Heisman Trophy. He was not on the list last week....Virginia's defensive coordinator is former Irish assistant coach Jon Tenuta. There is also a few other former ND assistants on Tenuta's staff. He worked for Charlie Weis at ND and left when Weis was fired....ND moved up to 9th in the AP poll and remains 11th in the USA Today rankings....The Irish are favored by 11 points today. As is the norm, you never take anything for granted. Playing away from home, before a sellout crowd of over 60,000 hostile fans will be a test for Zaire. In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning today. They should win and cover.