Notre Dame Football: Can Irish survive another Brandon Wimbush start?

Notre Dame football has been on cloud nine since the emergence of Ian Book, but will his injury send them crashing down to earth against Florida State?

With the Irish coming off a crucial win over Northwestern and the Seminoles coming off yet another embarrassing loss at the hands of N.C. State, this game appeared to be as close to a given as possible. However, quarterback Ian Book’s rib injury suffered in the Northwestern game has been quite the development heading into this week’s matchup.

Already ruled out for Saturday’s contest, Book will take to the sidelines as former starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush looks to suit up for what could be his last career start in a Notre Dame uniform. Wimbush was effective throughout the majority of the 2017 season, but his struggles surfaced in the second half of 2017 and continued into the first few games of 2018.

These two programs don’t meet very often, but their few matchups have been pretty entertaining. In eight total meetings, only two games have been decided by more than two possessions. Here’s how to watch the Irish as they look to cut into the 6-2 series lead currently held by the Seminoles.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 10
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

As for Notre Dame, this game shifts from a perfect matchup to a concerning one with Book’s injury. Instead of Book going against a poor Florida State secondary, Wimbush will have to find a way to run through what has been an impenetrable Seminoles defensive front. This game is still Notre Dame’s to lose, but the Irish are now tasked with finding a way to beat Florida State on the ground.

On that same token, Florida State’s biggest concern will be shutting down a grueling run game headed by Wimbush and running back Dexter Williams. It will also be in the Seminoles’ best interest to establish a run game, something they’ve failed to do all season. If they can manage to keep Wimbush in 3rd-and-longs for the majority of the game, they might just pull this one out.

Betting Odds

Odds provided by OddsShark

Point Spread: Notre Dame -16.5
Over/Under: 52

Prediction

Notre Dame’s offense is certainly less dynamic with Wimbush under center, but the Seminoles aren’t quite in a place where they can take advantage of this. While it wasn’t particularly pretty, the Irish did manage a 3-0 start to the season under Wimbush. The margin of victory may not be as significant as initially expected, but the Irish should still come away with a win, if not a blowout.

Final Score: Florida State 17, Notre Dame 30