Notre Dame Football: St. Brown reaping the rewards of Wimbush’s arm
Notre Dame football program got a big boost from quarterback Brandon Wimbush and receiver Equanimeous St. Brown in the passing game against MSU.
The No. 22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish passed one of their biggest tests of the season against the Michigan State Spartans. Until Michigan State faced Notre Dame in Week 4, the Spartans had not allowed a single rushing touchdown all season. Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush and star running back Josh Adams were able to change that in a hurry. And the entire Notre Dame offense had a solid game against Michigan State.
The player that could possibly see the biggest benefit from Wimbush finding his way in the passing game is wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. At 6-5, 205 pounds, St. Brown is one of the biggest and most talented targets that any quarterback in the country has to work with.
With former quarterback DeShone Kizer, St. Brown was extremely productive. Last year, he caught 58 passes for 961 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Through four games this year, St. Brown has only 11 catches for 160 yards and one touchdown. One reason for that is the heavy emphasis on the ground game this year.
Both Wimbush and Adams can single-handedly expose the front seven of most any team. Yet, that makes the passing game suffer a bit. It’s not that St. Brown hasn’t been good when given the opportunity, he just has not been given that many opportunities.
The fact that Notre Dame trusted Wimbush enough to throw the ball, even when they had an early lead, signifies some level of trust from head coach Brian Kelly. The weirdest part is, even though Wimbush attempted the lowest number of passes he had all season against Michigan State, he posted the highest quarterback rating.
Because of the transition that Wimbush has gone through to become the starting quarterback, progress needed to be made throughout the first few weeks. Moreover, seeing what the Georgia Bulldogs and Boston College Eagles were able to do against great offenses in Week 4 gives Wimbush some kind of pass. Georgia shut down Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald one week after he dominated LSU. And, BC held Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant in check.
Next: 3 takeaways from Notre Dame's win over Michigan State
If Wimbush is able to continue to improve his level of production, his receivers will reap the rewards. Watch out for St. Brown and other pass-catches like Chase Claypool to start making bigger impacts starting in Week 5 against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.