Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will beat LSU in 2018 Citrus Bowl

4. Brandon Wimbush has become a wild card

Junior Brandon Wimbush appeared to be the perfect quarterback for Notre Dame’s rebuild, and to an extent he was. Wimbush started off the season on a high note, leading the Irish to a 49-16 victory over Temple. Since then, Wimbush has struggled greatly, throwing five touchdowns to four interceptions over his last three games.

However, all is not lost for the inexperienced quarterback out of New Jersey. Wimbush has shown the ability to take over a game with both his legs and his arm, and sometimes at the same time. We haven’t seen this version of Wimbush as of late, but solid outings against great teams in the past should still offer some confidence.

And while LSU’s defense has been among the top in the nation in points allowed, they’ve been fairly generous in the yards per carry averages they surrender. Even if this doesn’t explicitly affect Wimbush, it still allows for Josh Adams to take some pressure off and potentially open up some holes in coverage.

Again, with Wimbush bouncing around in terms of his efficiency, it’s hard to guess what version we’ll get on Monday. However, with nearly a week off and the hope for an Adams rebound looking realistic, there’s a good chance Kelly loosens the reigns on his quarterback in one of his most meaningful games as a head coach.