Whether it's just for one game against Florida State, or for even more games should QB Ian Book be down longer, Notre Dame needs Brandon Wimbush to be at his best. Some might not be willing to admit it, but there were times in 2017 when Wimbush was brilliant, and he put the Irish offense on his back in Notre Dame's season-opening victory over Michigan.
Wimbush didn't finish the 2017 season well and he didn't play all that well against Ball State or Vanderbilt, and if the Irish are going to dominate Florida State and thrive offensively in other games Wimbush might play, he is going to have to be the best version of himself.
Consider this. Through Book's six starts this season the Irish offense has averaged 37.7 offensive points and 491 yards per game, and it has averaged 6.5 yards per play. Through Wimbush's first eight starts of the 2017 season the Irish offense averaged 40.6 offensive points per game, 496.1 yards per game and 6.9 yards per play.
Notre Dame needs to figure out a way to get Wimbush to be the guy who was a part of that offense, before he fell apart late in the season.
So how does that happen? There are things OC Chip Long must do and things Wimbush must do to make that happen.
1. Run him:
At times Long has tried to turn Wimbush into a passing QB, and I understand why. Look at what the Notre Dame offense has looked like the last six games with Book at QB. Having a QB who can execute the RPO offense and complete passes at a high level has been effective and aesthetically pleasing.
That's not Wimbush. He's never going to be a guy who sits in the pocket and puts together a performance you want to put in a clinic tape for future QB's to learn from. He's a dual-threat QB whose first strength is his ability to run the football.
Long's game plan needs to involve a lot of Wimbush running the football. Scrambles are great, but I'm more talking about designed runs and read plays like this:
Notre Dame hasn't run the Power Read much this season, which is the play shown above. With Book that's not really something you'd want or need to do with him. With Wimbush that's a concept he has executed well in the past and it gets him working vertically. Running this concept with either Dexter Williams or Jafar Armstrong running the sweep action could be quite effective against the FSU defense.
When Wimbush gets going early with his legs he seems to get more comfortable with the overall game plan. It seems to lock him in and get him revved up. We saw it against Michigan, we saw it against MSU last year, we saw it against USC, we saw it against Wake Forest, we saw it against Temple. It would be wise to get Wimbush going in the run game early with plays like the Power Read above and plays like this:
Wimbush getting moving with his legs in games like MSU and USC really got to play with a lot of energy and positive emotion, and the results for the entire offense were impressive.
2. Play-Action Early:
If you go back and look at some of Wimbush's best games (MSU, USC, UM, Wake, Temple) one of the things Long did early was get him rolling with the play-action pass game. The play-action does a few things for Wimbush. First, it balances out the run game because it gives defense's something to think about should they decide to come down and load up the box to defend against the run. Two, Wimbush seems to get into a good groove when he hits one of these throws. Three, play-action throws, especially ones like the play below, simplify his reads. The result of that is usually that he gets the ball out quicker, his technique is usually cleaner b/c he throws in rhythm and he tends to be pretty accurate with balls like this:
In wins over Temple, MSU, USC and Wake last year, and UM this year, Wimbush hit a first-series downfield play-action pass, and it set up the offense nicely. When Wimbush can establish the downfield pass game early off the play-action it puts the defense in a major bind b/c it not only has to try to defend his running ability, it must now ask its safeties to determine if it's a run or a deep shot but the QB.
3. Hit The Deep Ball:
Expect Long to call some deep shots early, and if he does Wimbush absolutely must throw the ball with good timing, make a good read and be accurate. He was very effective throwing the ball downfield early against Michigan, and the result was the Irish offense scoring 21 points in the first half against one of the nation's premier defenses.
The wide receivers have been playing at a very high level the last five games especially, and the wideouts playing well with Wimbush is key. If he can hit them accurately with some early deep throws it will build his confidence in them, their confidence in him and will force the defense to rethink their game plan that will likely be built around stopping the run.
Wimbush hit three early bombs against Michigan, all in the first quarter.
4. Snap Off Quick Throws:
Throwing the quick game has been a struggle for Wimbush at times, especially in the 2018 season. He isn't comfortable with his mechanics and he just can't find a groove. His biggest issue is he thinks about it way too much and he's too mechanical with his quick game throws. When he does well in the quick game - and he's done it at times - it's when he just takes the ball and snaps it outside with fast arm speed.
Here's an example:
There's no hesitation here. His mechanics aren't pretty but he also doesn't try to aim the ball. He just snaps it outside and guess what, the ball is accurate and the offense gets 20 yards on third down.
5. Accept Who You Are:
I've talked often about part of Wimbush's early season struggles is b/c of the game plan that Long called with Wimbush. I'm of the belief that Long wanted to run a specific kind of offense, and he was going to give Wimbush the first crack at running it. Wimbush couldn't do it so they made the move, and Ian Book executed that offense at a very high level, which is why he is the starter and will be the starter when he gets back to good health ... whenever that is.
But it wasn't all on Long. Wimbush too seemed dead set on proving he was a drop back/pocket passer. We saw it late in the 2017 season and we saw it too much against Ball State and Vanderbilt. We even saw it a few times against Michigan as well.
Wimbush has to be able to look in the mirror and accept who he is as a quarterback.
Wimbush being Wimbush means getting back to when he didn't immediately feel comfortable with the read he would take off and go make a play. Against BSU and Vandy and even Michigan at times he would spend too much time trying to stay in the pocket to find downfield targets. I'd like to see him get back read one, read two, run.
When Wimbush was decisive as a runner in the pass game last season he was really, really dangerous. You can see an example of him doing damage in the play above, but in the clip below you really see how dangerous he is when he is decisive as a runner.
Again it's a quick read, he sees the defense bailing and he takes off. This was back when Wimbush was comfortable in his own skin, knowing he was a running quarterback who could throw. If he can play like this against FSU and in future games he'll be fine.
Wimbush didn't finish the 2017 season well and he didn't play all that well against Ball State or Vanderbilt, and if the Irish are going to dominate Florida State and thrive offensively in other games Wimbush might play, he is going to have to be the best version of himself.
Consider this. Through Book's six starts this season the Irish offense has averaged 37.7 offensive points and 491 yards per game, and it has averaged 6.5 yards per play. Through Wimbush's first eight starts of the 2017 season the Irish offense averaged 40.6 offensive points per game, 496.1 yards per game and 6.9 yards per play.
Notre Dame needs to figure out a way to get Wimbush to be the guy who was a part of that offense, before he fell apart late in the season.
So how does that happen? There are things OC Chip Long must do and things Wimbush must do to make that happen.
1. Run him:
At times Long has tried to turn Wimbush into a passing QB, and I understand why. Look at what the Notre Dame offense has looked like the last six games with Book at QB. Having a QB who can execute the RPO offense and complete passes at a high level has been effective and aesthetically pleasing.
That's not Wimbush. He's never going to be a guy who sits in the pocket and puts together a performance you want to put in a clinic tape for future QB's to learn from. He's a dual-threat QB whose first strength is his ability to run the football.
Long's game plan needs to involve a lot of Wimbush running the football. Scrambles are great, but I'm more talking about designed runs and read plays like this:
Notre Dame hasn't run the Power Read much this season, which is the play shown above. With Book that's not really something you'd want or need to do with him. With Wimbush that's a concept he has executed well in the past and it gets him working vertically. Running this concept with either Dexter Williams or Jafar Armstrong running the sweep action could be quite effective against the FSU defense.
When Wimbush gets going early with his legs he seems to get more comfortable with the overall game plan. It seems to lock him in and get him revved up. We saw it against Michigan, we saw it against MSU last year, we saw it against USC, we saw it against Wake Forest, we saw it against Temple. It would be wise to get Wimbush going in the run game early with plays like the Power Read above and plays like this:
Wimbush getting moving with his legs in games like MSU and USC really got to play with a lot of energy and positive emotion, and the results for the entire offense were impressive.
2. Play-Action Early:
If you go back and look at some of Wimbush's best games (MSU, USC, UM, Wake, Temple) one of the things Long did early was get him rolling with the play-action pass game. The play-action does a few things for Wimbush. First, it balances out the run game because it gives defense's something to think about should they decide to come down and load up the box to defend against the run. Two, Wimbush seems to get into a good groove when he hits one of these throws. Three, play-action throws, especially ones like the play below, simplify his reads. The result of that is usually that he gets the ball out quicker, his technique is usually cleaner b/c he throws in rhythm and he tends to be pretty accurate with balls like this:
In wins over Temple, MSU, USC and Wake last year, and UM this year, Wimbush hit a first-series downfield play-action pass, and it set up the offense nicely. When Wimbush can establish the downfield pass game early off the play-action it puts the defense in a major bind b/c it not only has to try to defend his running ability, it must now ask its safeties to determine if it's a run or a deep shot but the QB.
3. Hit The Deep Ball:
Expect Long to call some deep shots early, and if he does Wimbush absolutely must throw the ball with good timing, make a good read and be accurate. He was very effective throwing the ball downfield early against Michigan, and the result was the Irish offense scoring 21 points in the first half against one of the nation's premier defenses.
The wide receivers have been playing at a very high level the last five games especially, and the wideouts playing well with Wimbush is key. If he can hit them accurately with some early deep throws it will build his confidence in them, their confidence in him and will force the defense to rethink their game plan that will likely be built around stopping the run.
Wimbush hit three early bombs against Michigan, all in the first quarter.
4. Snap Off Quick Throws:
Throwing the quick game has been a struggle for Wimbush at times, especially in the 2018 season. He isn't comfortable with his mechanics and he just can't find a groove. His biggest issue is he thinks about it way too much and he's too mechanical with his quick game throws. When he does well in the quick game - and he's done it at times - it's when he just takes the ball and snaps it outside with fast arm speed.
Here's an example:
There's no hesitation here. His mechanics aren't pretty but he also doesn't try to aim the ball. He just snaps it outside and guess what, the ball is accurate and the offense gets 20 yards on third down.
5. Accept Who You Are:
I've talked often about part of Wimbush's early season struggles is b/c of the game plan that Long called with Wimbush. I'm of the belief that Long wanted to run a specific kind of offense, and he was going to give Wimbush the first crack at running it. Wimbush couldn't do it so they made the move, and Ian Book executed that offense at a very high level, which is why he is the starter and will be the starter when he gets back to good health ... whenever that is.
But it wasn't all on Long. Wimbush too seemed dead set on proving he was a drop back/pocket passer. We saw it late in the 2017 season and we saw it too much against Ball State and Vanderbilt. We even saw it a few times against Michigan as well.
Wimbush has to be able to look in the mirror and accept who he is as a quarterback.
Wimbush being Wimbush means getting back to when he didn't immediately feel comfortable with the read he would take off and go make a play. Against BSU and Vandy and even Michigan at times he would spend too much time trying to stay in the pocket to find downfield targets. I'd like to see him get back read one, read two, run.
When Wimbush was decisive as a runner in the pass game last season he was really, really dangerous. You can see an example of him doing damage in the play above, but in the clip below you really see how dangerous he is when he is decisive as a runner.
Again it's a quick read, he sees the defense bailing and he takes off. This was back when Wimbush was comfortable in his own skin, knowing he was a running quarterback who could throw. If he can play like this against FSU and in future games he'll be fine.
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