Brandon Wimbush Back In The Saddle As Notre Dame Quarterback
After waiting three years to make his first start as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, junior Brandon Wimbush is even more eager to return to the lineup after a three-week lull.
During the 52-17 romp over Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 30, Wimbush suffered a foot strain during the closing minutes of the first half against the RedHawks that sidelined him for the Oct. 7 North Carolina game. He continued his recuperation during the bye week to where he and the medical staff have declared himself “100 percent.”
“I can’t necessarily remember the exact play, but I think it might have been on one of those hard plants I did,” said Wimbush after Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “It progressively got worse as the game and the night went on, and I started to feel it even worse in the morning.”
Although he was able to practice with the team the following Wednesday, he began to feel something was still amiss by early Friday, and on Saturday at North Carolina he felt he was "not back to where I needed to be effective with the team."
“I would have been able to get out there mentally and operate the offense,” said Wimbush when asked if he could have been used in case sophomore replacement Ian Book had been injured. “How effectively, we don’t know, but if it came down to it, I think I’d be able to go out there and execute.”
Fortunately, the bye week bought more time for Wimbush to fully heal.
“It’s been three weeks … I’m excited to get back out there with my guys,” Wimbush said. “Just having three weeks to watch more film, to work on technique, to work with the timing with the receivers and get back into a groove has been huge and will pay huge dividends this upcoming weekend.
“We got out there for two days during our bye week and I started to feel like myself again. Towards the end of practice Thursday I was like, ‘Alright, my foot’s back to where I need it to be.’ Then we had a couple of days off again, and I rehabbed. I was back out there on Monday, and it felt really good.”
Despite being on the sidelines his first two seasons at Notre Dame, Wimbush said once he received the taste of starting this season, it was more difficult to deal with having the spectator role again.
“It’s a little weird,” Wimbush said. “It’s not something you want to do after starting five consecutive games … I’m excited to get back out there.”
Head coach Brian Kelly said Wimbush has plenty to learn on his own before playing too much of an instructor role for his backup Book, but that didn’t prevent him from trying at North Carolina.
“I was trying to tell Ian what I saw when he came off the field, reciprocate the mutual relationship that he does for me when I’m out there,” Wimbush said. “I tried to help him as much as I could.”
Under Kelly, Notre Dame is 3-0 with quarterbacks making their first start against USC (Tommy Rees in 2010, Everett Golson in 2012, and DeShone Kizer in 2015), and Wimbush is eager to make it 4-0 against the No. 11-ranked Trojans.
“I’m excited to get back out there and put on a show,” he said.
Despite ranking 96th in passing efficiency among the 112 FBS quarterbacks who have attempted enough passes to qualify, Wimbush also is 12th in rushing yardage (402) among quarterbacks even though he sat out a game.
“He’s been really productive in a number of areas — moving the chains, fourth-down conversions, third downs, big plays …” Kelly explained. “He’s done a lot of really good things to get us to where we are today, and yeah, there has to be some improvement in some other areas. But from a productivity standpoint, he’s done some really good things and he’s only going to get better.”
“Production-wise it’s not been Aaron Rodgers-esque, but similar in the fact that I’m able to throw the ball — and I think really well — and use my feet when a play breaks down, to the best of my ability,” Wimbush said.
He said his success running the football has not changed the type of quarterback he aspires to be and knows he can be.
“That’s never crossed my mind,” he said. “I really try my best to be a throw-first guy. My running abilities happened to help us win games this year. So what’s helping us win right now, why change something?
“The game has slowed down immensely for myself and the rest of the offense. We’re at a point where we’re going to start clicking on a new level. I’m excited to see what that looks like this weekend. Recognizing the defense is something I had to improve on, and I think I did.
“…I know what I have in myself, and the guys know what they have here in me. Once the passing game gets going, that perception will change. That’s completely on myself. I have to start making plays and start making the necessary throws.”
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