Notre Dame Football Grades: Offense vs. Wake Forest

The Notre Dame football generated an absurd 710 yards against Wake Forest on Saturday. The total nearly broke a school single-game record. The Irish tallied 720 yards against Navy on Nov. 1, 1969. Although Notre Dame came up shy of the record, the offense still played well against a stingy Wake Forest defense.

Following Notre Dame’s 48-37 victory, Brandon Wimbush received the game ball from Brian Kelly. And for good reason. The first-year starter from Jersey City, New Jersey suffered a hand injury during the 2nd quarter. However, he pushed forward and played the 3rd quarter before giving way to the back ups.

Wimbush threw for 280 yards and 1 sack. He completed 15-of-30 passes. Several passes were dropped by Irish Wide Receivers.

The Junior Quarterback added 119 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. His biggest run of the day, a 50-yard scramble, helped Notre Dame break the game wide open.

Wimbush really showed improvement throwing the football. His progress stands between Notre Dame and a possible national championship.

Ian Book added 50 passing yards and 54 rushings yards.

Despite losing Josh Adams in the first half, the Irish Running Backs acquited themselves well. Sophomore Tony Jones Jr. received the majority of the work while Deon McIntosh and Dexter Williams also contributed.

Sophomore Tony Jones Jr. carried the ball 10 times for 59 yards. The majority of his runs came inside the tackles. His longest run was only 15 yards. He scored a touchdown on the afternoon.

Deon McIntosh rushed 65 yards on 9 carries with a touchdown. He scampered 45 yards on a sweep play late in the 2nd quarter. This run led to another Irish touchdown. He also caught a pass for 11 yards.

Junior Running Back Dexter Williams added 33 yards on 3 carries.

Sophomore Wide Receiver Chase Claypool had the best game of his career on Saturday against the Demon Deacons. He caught 9 passes for 180 yards with a touchdown. Claypool led the Irish in receiving by a wide margin.

He caught several long passes on dig routes: one went for a touchdown. The Candian athlete also caught an acrobatic pass where he tipped the ball to himself while falling down.

Equanimeous St. Brown continued his inconsistent play. He caught 2 balls for 36 yards. Notre Dame opened the game with a play-action pass that ended in a 24-yard gain for St. Brown.

Sophomore Kevin Stepherson added 2 receptions for 22 yards. Stepherson also carried the ball 2 times or 42 yards. The addition of the Sophomore Wide Receiver has really helped the Irish receiving corps contribute.

Notre Dame’s Tight Ends continue to make a solid impact on the football team with their pass catching and blocking.

Graduate student Durham Smythe caught 2 passes for 36 yards while blocking at an extremely high level.

Nic Weishar, who received more playng time with Alize Mack injured, snarred 2 balls for 17 yards including a touchdown pass from Ian Book.

Freshman Tight End Cole Kmet snagged 2 receptions for 14 yards. He and fellow Freshman Brock Wright played in a lot of the jumbo, short-yardage sets.

Once again, the Offensive Line plowed the way for the Notre Dame offense. The line of Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Alex Bars and Tommy Kraemer (or Robert Hainsey) helped the Irish collected 710 yards of total offense.

The Notre Dame Offensive Line only allowed one sack on their way to 48 points. Senior Center Sam Mustipher helped spring Wimbush and Book on their long Quarterback draw runs.

The Notre Dame offense scored 48 points, which nearly doubles the amount that the Demon Deacons usually give up. The Irish completely dominated Wake Forest on the offensive side of the ball from the start.

The offense stalled in the redzone, which is uncharacteristic of this year’s team. Notre Dame scored touchdowns on 4 of the 6 trips to the redzone. The Irish are typically scoring touchdowns 80% of the time they get to the 20-yard line.