Notre Dame Football: Brandon Wimbush’s strong performance leads Irish over Michigan

2. The Irish have some options at running back

There was plenty of speculation in regard to running back Dexter Williams’ status this week, but the common consensus was that junior Tony Jones Jr. would handle the bulk of the carries. However, that wasn’t the case against the Wolverines as Armstrong went on to record 15 carries for 35 yards. Jones, on the other hand, would compile 45 yards on nine carries.

With Williams sidelined, former quarterback Avery Davis earned himself a couple of touches as well. Jones was the more efficient runner, finishing with a 5.0 YPC average. However, Armstrong had his fair share of flashy plays on both offense and special teams, finding the end zone twice while giving himself a good chance to be worked into this offense in the future.

The return of Williams’ will throw an eventual monkey wrench into this, but not all monkey wrenches are bad. After all, Williams was slated as the starter prior to his disciplinary benching. We’ll have to see how these players progress throughout the season, but there has definitely been some promise shown throughout the Irish’s opening weekend.

We’ll have to take a wait and see approach with this unit as anything can change from week to week. However, offensive coordinator Chip Long does have a few options at his disposal when considering his gameplans in weeks to follow.