Brian Kelly Notebook: Wimbush's Progression, Injuries
It’s been an up-and-down season for Irish quarterback Brandon Wimbush through the air.
Wimbush has completed just 52.3 percent of his passes (69 of 132) for 782 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions in his five games.
This Saturday will be the first game for Wimbush in three weeks after missing the North Carolina game and the bye week.
Head coach Brian Kelly said during his weekly Thursday post-practice press conference that the staff made sure to get him back into a game rhythm in preparation for Saturday night’s anticipated game against No. 11 USC.
“it was really important to speed up practice and put him in situations where things were a little faster for him,” Kelly explained. “Because they are going to be fast for him Saturday night. He needs to know that and he now knows that we really pushed him hard this week to play fast. Anything that was not done at a fast pace was not graded out in a positive manner.
“He understands that and knows what to expect. Going to take him a little while to get into it and we’re aware of that from a play calling standpoint as well.”
Wimbush expressed a confidence to the media on Wednesday evening about the offense taking a step forward Saturday night. Kelly said he’s “excited” when his players are confident and especially the starting quarterback. And Wimbush’s play during Thursday’s practice caught Kelly’s attention.
“This is not hyperbole or trying to be overly confident because you still have to play the game on Saturday, this was his best day since he’s been here,” Kelly said. “A lot of it was he’s starting to see things quicker. We haven’t changed things offensively. It’s the same things …
“It’s getting to that point of conscious confidence where he sees it, knows what it is and now if we can kind of build that a little bit with the receivers, we’re going to be in pretty good shape. He’s going to get better and better. I know I keep saying that. His level of play will get better and better as the weeks go on.”
The offense’s work in the two-minute drill recently is one reason Kelly is confident in the group and Wimbush.
“We can move the ball in two-minute [now],” Kelly said. “We couldn’t even get a first down throughout entire camp and into the first five weeks during two-minute. We were three-and-out. We move the ball down the field now in two-minute. That’s a huge accomplishment.”
INJURY UPDATES
Kelly provided a few additional injury updates along with mentioning linebacker Greer Martini will be out Saturday night. Kelly touched on running backs Dexter Williams and Tony Jones Jr. along with starting right guard Alex Bars.
“He’s not 100 percent yet,” Kelly said of Williams. “Tony Jones is 100 percent. Dexter I’d say is less than 100, but I would say he couldn’t sustain multiple carries. He could give us a couple of carries at full strength, so we’ll have to pick our spots with him.”
“I don’t know if anybody is 100 percent, but [Alex Bars is] functioning at a high level without any limitations.”
PREPARING FOR CLOSE GAMES
It’s been over a month since Notre Dame played in a close game which came in a 20-19 loss to Georgia at home.
Notre Dame’s preparation however won’t change this week in order to prepare for what most expect to be a tightly contest matchup against two of the top 15 teams in the country.
“Your preparation has to be the right kind of preparation and that requires a great focus by your team or you can’t operate well in situations,” Kelly said. “It’s either pressure or opportunity. Pressure is when you’re not prepared. I think our kids don’t feel pressure as much as opportunity because they feel like they’re well prepared. Like I told our guys today, if I’m out here having to remind you how focused you need to be, you’re not going to prepared to the level you need to be and you’re going to feel pressure instead of opportunity.
“I can say only so much about how they have to practice and this group is really good about how they prepare and we’ve seen the results of that. We create those same situations each and every week about end of game, third down, fourth down, red zone and they have to be locked in and focused. If they are, when they get those situations it’s not pressure its opportunity and they can make those plays.”
4TH QUARTER SUCCESS
Notre Dame is outscoring its opponents 55-27 in the fourth quarter this season which has helped the Irish close out games and not allow a potential comeback.
Kelly discussed why he feels the team has done so well to finish games strong and put opponents away in the first half of the season.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the total preparation of our team has always been about this year,” Kelly explained. “Physical preparation … strength and condition. There is a little bit of that tactical that happens at halftime. But, I always think that’s a bit overrated. I think you have to make some adjustments, but to get that disparity in terms of number, I don’t know if that falls to that level.
“I think the mental piece is really big. What kind of mindset do you come out with at halftime. I think that’s been really big with this football team. I think they’ve got a great mindset about either putting an opponent away or continuing that let’s take the pace to our opponent. I think that those two things — the strength and condition and that mindset — play a big role in some of those numbers.”
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