Notre Dame Football: 5 biggest storylines following spring 2018

4. How will Wimbush progress in his second year as a starter?

Senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush’s first year was filled with ups and downs, to say the least. After leading the Irish to an impressive 8-1 start (and as far as No. 3 in the AP Poll), Wimbush faltered in his last few games, finishing with a 9-3 regular season record after a pair of brutal losses to rivals Miami and Stanford.

The Irish’s 13th game of the season threw somewhat of a monkey wrench into the Notre Dame offseason as backup quarterback Ian Book came into the game and led the Irish to a thrilling 21-17 victory over LSU in the 2018 Citrus Bowl. As one would expect, a quarterback controversy quickly arose. However, any talks of a switch in starter were soon suppressed by Kelly.

Now we’ll get a look at Wimbush in his second year in Chip Long’s Notre Dame offense. Wimbush put up great numbers last season and even made Notre Dame history as a run-first quarterback, but not even that was enough to mask his passing woes. Considering how those struggles came back to bite the team in 2017, passing had to be a point of emphasis for Wimbush this offseason.

Despite a few mistakes, Wimbush looked good in the Blue-Gold game and seemed to have improved in the pass game, especially. While that may be due in part to the confidence brought upon by playing against a familiar defense, Wimbush’s throwing motion and accuracy as a whole was encouraging. If he can continue that play throughout the season, good things are in store.