New Quarterback Could Be Another Good Old Story At Notre Dame
There are few more prized commodities in football than having an experienced quarterback at the throttle.
In the seven previous seasons under Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, there has also been nothing more overrated than returning experience at quarterback.
Under Kelly, the two best seasons — a 12-0 regular season in 2012 and a 10-1 start in 2015 — were with quarterbacks who had never previously taken a snap at the collegiate level, redshirt freshmen Everett Golson and DeShone Kizer, respectively.
The common thread in both situations was the quarterbacks didn’t have to carry the team because they were surrounded by a veteran offensive line with star power, a deep array of pass catchers led by first-round picks — Tyler Eifert in 2012 and Will Fuller in 2015 — and a strong, complementary running game, with both the 2012 and 2015 units averaging better than 200 yards rushing per game during the regular season. A dominant defense in 2012 also helped carry the day.
For junior Brandon Wimbush, who redshirted last season and took only 27 snaps as a 2015 freshman, it sets up ideally as it did in 2012 and 2015. It’s a far cry from when freshmen Brady Quinn (2003) and Jimmy Clausen (2007) had to meander through 5-7 and 3-9 campaigns with a limited and far less veteran supporting class on offense (including an NCAA record 59 sacks of Irish QBs in 2007), especially along the line.
• The returning Irish offensive line, led by All-Americans Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson, has 76 career starts, more than in both 2015 (68) and 2012 (65).
• The pass-catching corps features one of the nation’s best in junior Equanimeous St. Brown, plus five other targets who caught at least one touchdown in 2016. The addition of graduate transfers Cameron Smith (Arizona State) and Freddy Canteen (Michigan), plus a couple of freshmen in Michael Young and Jafar Armstrong also have made a positive early impression.
• The running back depth behind junior Josh Adams — the lone player in Irish history to rush for at least 800 yards each of his first two seasons — might be comparable to 2015 when even after starter Tarean Folston was sidelined for the year with an injury, C.J. Prosise and Adams combined for nearly 2,000 yards rushing in his place.
The fact that Wimbush doesn’t have to carry the load on offense should be an asset in itself.
“I don't know that we'll ever put it on Brandon to just sit back there and pick the defense apart,” Kelly said. “That's not what we're going to ask him to do. We're going to play the game to our strengths.”
After the fifth day of practice on Saturday, Wimbush concurred that while taking over as a leader on the team is vital, the knowledge that he doesn’t have to put more on himself like Kizer did last year creates a better safety net.
“I don’t think it’s difficult because you have the guys on the field last year with Mike McGlinchey and the rest of the offensive line who have done a great job with me and really adopting me into the offense,” Wimbush said. “I have so many guys around me to help me take on that leadership role, and I don’t have to assume the whole thing.”
Nevertheless, Wimbush appears to possess the best combination of arm strength/accuracy, fleetness of foot, natural leadership and knowledge base of any quarterback in the Kelly era, so it’s not like the head coach doesn’t want to maximize those skill sets.
Kelly doesn’t believe the situation is quite comparable to 2012 when Golson didn’t have to “drive the bus” (passing for a relatively modest 2,405 yards) while mainly trying to steer clear of trouble. Wimbush is now in his third season at the collegiate level, whereas Golson and Kizer were in their second.
“I don't know that I would go into the season and say, ‘Hey, the narrative is let's take pressure off Brandon Wimbush,’ ” Kelly said. “No, Brandon Wimbush would be one of the 11 guys [to] contribute with his strengths on the offensive side of the ball — and know that we'll be able to contribute effectively.”
“I would say that Brandon possesses a great understanding of what we're doing, and I'm not here to stand in front of you and say that we have to protect Brandon in any fashion.”
However, protecting Wimbush in practice is different. Wimbush has some mixed feelings about not having taken any contact since a mop-up role in the 2015 Pitt game, when he lost a fumble. He is eager to show off his running skills — he rushed for 96 yards in a reserve role against UMass in 2015, highlighted by a 58-yard touchdown, but has been frustrated that “touch sacks” in scrimmages don’t allow him to showcase his maneuverability and evasiveness. He claims he misses the contact that comes with the game.
“You do after a while,” he said. “You’re like, ‘I haven’t played football in a while, so let me get touched up a little bit.’ Daelin Hayes and the other defensive linemen have been around me [on pass pressures], so it feels like I’m getting hit.
“[Running with the ball] takes a whole dimension of my game and the offense, and I think that would be huge for us. It’s going to be interesting to see me use my feet a little bit.”
Although he is not one of the school-record six captains this year, Wimbush has clearly taken on a leadership role, whether it’s being in the first row with the captains in pre-practice warm-ups or asserting his presence in the huddle. That has earned him a coveted “green shirt” from the staff that reflects the ideal approach to the game and as a student-athlete in every respect.
“We wanted other players to see Brandon Wimbush in a green shirt and say, that's what it looks like,” Kelly said. “The way he handles himself, the way he works, his attention to detail, the way he handles himself on campus, that's what I want to model myself after … he was doing the things necessary that we want others to do as well.”
The point of emphasis for both Kelly and Wimbush after Saturday’s practice is the preseason is going to remain a long process, and building confidence and camaraderie with his teammates is a never-ending process up to and then through the season. Immediate gratification is not part of the plans.
“We’re laying a lot on him right now,” replied Kelly to a question on how he thinks Wimbush is seeing the field as a passer. “We’re in the installation phase. If I took five or six routes that he knows really well, I would say crystal clear. I would say in terms of five days where you’ve got 30 different route concepts — I don’t know if I’m very clear on some of the things.
“Some of the plays we’re calling are about installation of plays more so than what are Brandon’s plays, per se. A lot of it is some of the pressures and getting into right protections. It’s five days in and learning. He’s going to be ready for Temple.”
For now, Wimbush is attempting to not even take for granted that he is the starter.
“It’s still kind of new,” he said. “…It’s different when you’re in the film room as opposed to when you’re on the field actually going through full speed against a defense. When you’re in the film room, you’re able to dissect and see where you made your mistake, and hopefully you’re able to translate that on to the field.”
It will be a whole new experience, but one that has been beneficial to Kelly’s quarterbacks when a veteran cast surrounds him.
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