Sep 14, 2015 12:44 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a bittersweet victory over Virginia this weekend, as they rose to eighth in the AP Top 25 Poll, but lost their starting QB along the way.

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly confirmed on Sunday that Malik Zaire, a junior, underwent a successful surgery to repair his broken right ankle, ESPN reported.

The downside is that Zaire will have to miss the entire season after winning the starting QB position in the preseason. Zaire suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Irish's road game against Virginia and had to be driven off the field on a cart.

"He is in St. Liam's here on campus. Surgery went well. And you know, he'll begin the process of rehab once he's able to get the swelling down," Kelly said in a press conference Sunday. "I think it's a couple weeks before we start to begin some movement. It's non-weight bearing for about six weeks, and then Rob Hunt, our football athletic trainer, will begin some movement. We are hoping to have him back full go for spring ball."

Zaire started last season as a backup to Everett Golson, who this season transferred to Florida State after graduating from Notre Dame. Despite the transfer, Zaire had to compete for the starting position again, though this time he came out on top.

Zaire opened the Irish's season throwing for 313 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 86 percent of his passes against Texas. Against Virginia, he had run for 87 yards and thrown for 115 more, seemingly on his way to another impressive performance.

Sophomore DeShone Kizer stepped in and completed eight of 12 passes for 92 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. However, Kizer and Notre Dame's true tests are still on the horizon, as they play Georgia Tech, Clemson, and USC over the next month.

"So we know he's got the ability to play winning football," Kelly said in his press conference. "Now it's just kind of honing in on some of the specifics that we want to highlight that are his strengths, so I think that that in particular is what we'll go to work on here starting tonight."

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