Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from victory over Miami (OH)

Notre Dame football avoided a Week 5 hangover after their win over Michigan State, beating the Miami of Ohio RedHawks 52-17. Here are three takeaways following their fourth win of the early season.

It was more of the same from an Irish team that has been running through competition since their Week 2 loss against Georgia. The Irish put up 503 total yards on a scrambling RedHawks defense, ensuring that this game was put away from the get-go.

The Irish defense wasn’t as impressive tonight as it’s been over the last few weeks, but once again managed to get the job done at home. Notre Dame fans will hope for this to be a fluke as the Irish defense hasn’t struggled like this in quite some time. While 17 points isn’t a whole lot, there were certainly times when this defense wasn’t where they wanted to be.

Notre Dame controlled the game throughout, but there were a few discouraging moments to go along with the many good ones. Nevertheless, here are three takeaways from this evening’s big win.

3. Brandon Wimbush‘s pass game has improved… Kind of

As expected, head coach Brian Kelly took a significant portion of today to work on quarterback Brandon Wimbush’s passing game. Despite finishing with a season low in pass attempts, it was the situational significance of Wimbush’s throws that displayed Kelly’s desire to push him in the pass game. Wimbush would see multiple passing attempts in a row before seeing a run, a rarity up to this point.

Wimbush finished 7-for-18 on the day, throwing for 119 yards and three touchdowns while remaining mistake-free throughout the matchup. As you may have noticed, the most impressive part of his stat-line was the three touchdowns. The three scores through the air doubled his touchdown total of the season, bringing his current total to six.

Wimbush would be replaced by backup Ian Book heading into the fourth quarter to avoid injury, and a 35 point victory would be more than enough to restrain Wimbush doubters from calling for a controversy. Book displayed his arm on multiple occasions, showing off his potential as a future starting quarterback.

However, this offense has been molded for a Wimbush-only playing style. It is extremely unlikely that Book would see any playing time barring a Wimbush injury, but nothing is for certain in college football. While Wimbush’s accuracy was still an issue today, his passing touchdowns were certainly encouraging. Look for Wimbush to continue what we’ve seen so far into Notre Dame’s next matchup against North Carolina.