SOUTH BEND, Ind. - It didn't take long for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly to realize that his players were eager to kick off the season Saturday.

"I knew we were excited about playing," Kelly said. "Our pregame meal lasted about 2 1/2 minutes."

Then No. 11 Notre Dame went out and devoured the Texas Longhorns.

Quarterback Malik Zaire completed 19-of-22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns as No. 11 Notre Dame cruised to a 38-3 victory over Texas at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish outgained the Longhorns 527-163 and won the time-of-possession battle by nearly 2-to-1.

Texas became the first team to tally less than 200 yards against Notre Dame since Army in 2010.

"It's always a shock when you go out and get embarrassed," Texas coach Charlie Strong said. "You would have figured that we'd come out and play much better than we did. I still say this: We're a better football team than that."

Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller caught seven passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman running back Josh Adams added two touchdowns on the ground, including a 14-yard score on his first collegiate rushing attempt.

Notre Dame improved to 17-0 under Kelly when committing zero turnovers in a game.

"We know we're as good as we want to take ourselves," said Fuller, who recorded his fourth career multi-touchdown game. "Our defense played phenomenal. Our offense did what we had to do. I think we just played a great game."

Texas struggled badly to move the ball against Notre Dame's veteran-laden defense. Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes completed 7-of-22 passes for 93 yards for Texas, and running back Johnathan Gray led the team with 40 rushing yards.

Strong said his offensive line failed to win the line of scrimmage, which led to rushed passes and poor decisions on the part of his quarterback.

"We have to protect Tyrone," Strong said. "We didn't protect him at all. We've got to give the guy a chance to throw the ball."

Notre Dame linebacker Joe Schmidt said the game plan called for keeping Swoopes in the pocket. The plan worked nearly to perfection as Swoopes managed 17 rushing yards on 10 attempts.

"There's still a lot of room to improve," Schmidt said. "But if was fun to be able to run around out there and have the guys communicating so well and running to the football. They ran so many screens, it feels like, and we ran to the ball really, really well."

Texas managed eight first downs compared with 30 by Notre Dame and failed to score until the second half. A 41-yard field goal by kicker Nick Rose sliced the deficit to 17-3 with 8:36 remaining in the third quarter.

On the next series, Zaire heaved a 66-yard touchdown pass to Fuller to increase Notre Dame's lead to 24-3. Adams added a 25-yard touchdown run to make it 31-3 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Notre Dame extended the lead to 38-3 in the first minute of the fourth quarter when Zaire found wide receiver Chris Brown for a 6-yard score.

Kelly said his junior quarterback could challenge opponents with his arm as well as his feet. Zaire replaced former starter Everett Golson, who transferred to Florida State before the season.

"We knew what he was capable of," Kelly said of Zaire. "I think he put it together tonight. And he's got room to grow."

Zaire gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead when he hit Fuller across the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 6:29 remaining in the first quarter.

Adams increased the lead to 14-0 with 1:02 to play in the first quarter after sprinting right on an end-around and eluding a pair of defenders to cap a nine-play, 95-yard scoring drive.

A 38-yard field goal by Notre Dame kicker Justin Yoon made it 17-0 with 7:53 left in the half.

NOTES: Notre Dame CB KeiVarae Russell returned to the starting lineup after missing the 2014 season because of an academic suspension. ... Texas started a pair of true freshmen on the offensive line, LT Connor Williams and RG Patrick Vahe. ... Notre Dame WR Torii Hunter Jr. and DL Daniel Cage were among four players who made their first career starts for the Irish. ... Texas coach Charlie Strong served as Notre Dame's defensive line coach from 1995 to 1998. ... Notre Dame RB Tarean Folston limped to the locker room and did not return after injuring his right knee in the first quarter. He is scheduled to have an MRI exam on Sunday, coach Brian Kelly said.