Notre Dame Football: Position report card for Irish in week 3
By Jacob Wilson
How does one who broke a Notre Dame quarterback rushing record to go along with four touchdowns only receive a B grade? It’s not easy, but throwing for only 96 yards will do just that. It was a good game from Wimbush, but it once again left fans wondering just what this game would’ve looked like if Boston College was replaced by Miami… or Stanford… or USC… well you get the picture.
It’s important to note that the above concern is very valid before praising Wimbush for his new place in the record books. Was Wimbush’s performance an incredible feat? Absolutely. But would it have happened against the likes of even North Carolina or Navy? It will be interesting to see when they face those two teams later in the season, but my gut reaction is no.
It’s easy to mask your flaws when you can just tuck the ball and run for twenty yards but the truth is that rushing on every other dropback won’t cut it against most teams. We all saw what happened in Georgia, and we even began to see it in the first half of this game.
Heading into halftime this was only a 14-10 game. It only took a matter of seconds on any Notre Dame forum to see the average fan calling for Wimbush’s head. I even saw someone wishing injury on his so that we could see his backup in Ian Book. Now how could a record-breaking performance lead a passionate fan to demand a quarterback change? Something must be wrong.
At this point, most fans are beginning to see through Wimbush’s tuck and run ploy. Fans of any sport are not quick to forget, but college football has a different level of nastiness to it. However, we need to give Wimbush another chance against worthy competition before we start voicing such confident opinions.