Notre Dame Football: Midterm Grades – Offense

Following the victory over the Tar Heels, the Fighting Irish officially ended the first half of the season. The Notre Dame football won five games, one more than the entire 2016 season. New Offensive Coordinator Chip Long has clearly made an immediate impact on the Irish offense. In a major shift from last year, Notre Dame is a run first, physical football team. Here is how the Fighting Irish offense fared on their midterm report.

Both Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book contributed in the first half as the starting Quarterback. Following Book’s performance against North Carolina, it is clear that Wimbush deserves to be the starter. The two players are nearly equal in their passing abilities. However, Wimbush’s ability as a dynamic runner separates him from Book.

Wimbush, the Quarterback who took the majority of the snaps, struggled to gain consistency through the air. Although he could not find the key to the passing attack, he used his legs to beat a lot of teams.

In five games, Wimbush threw for 782 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He added 402 yards on the ground with 8 touchdowns. Book completed 51.3% of his passes for 197 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Molding a Quarterback into consistent starter is a messy task. Wimbush plays well enough for Notre Dame to win. He simply only win games for the Irish with his feet at the moment. Offensive Coordinator Chip Long needs his right arm to become more accurate if Notre Dame wants to make a push in the second half.