Notre Dame Football: Irish must lean into Brandon Wimbush
Notre Dame football has a crisis at quarterback, but the solution might require a bit more creativity than benching starter Brandon Wimbush.
When the game came to a close Saturday the Irish had solidified another hard-fought, frustrating narrow victory. Irish quarterback Brandon Wimbush has led the team to a perfect 3-0 start, but calls for his benching have gotten louder and louder as the weeks have progressed.
Wimbush completed 13-of-23 passes for 122 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions against Vanderbilt in Week 3. He was much more effective on the ground, carrying the ball 19 times, for 84 yards and a touchdown.
That sort of performance is in line with his entire career. Wimbush sports a career 50.8 percent completion percentage and has accounted for one more passing touchdown (17) than rushing touchdowns (16) during his time in South Bend. Dead coach Bryan Kelly doesn’t need to bench Wimbush; he needs to stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
If backups Ian Book or Phil Jurkovec had proven they operate the system more efficiently they would be on the field, but Book’s limited action has been a clear message: this is Wimbush’s job. Rather than continuing to jam Wimbush into the Notre Dame offense, they need to rethink how the Notre Dame offense fits around Wimbush.
The college game is more conducive than ever to mobile quarterbacks. The spread option, RPOs and designed rollouts are commonplace around the nation. That’s the sort of scheme that could turn a sub-par passer into a chain mover and elevate the play of the entire Notre Dame offense.
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Wimbush isn’t a marksman or a deep threat. He’s not going to wow you with his precision, but he can force the defense into hard spots. He’s a better weapon outside the pocket than in it. It’s time for Brian Kelly to let him loose.