NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Its first two offensive plays of Saturday’s second half netted Notre Dame a loss of one yard, yet those two plays turned a pyrrhic victory into a prototypical 48-37 victory over Wake Forest.
Sophomore running back Deon McIntosh’s four-yard gain was quickly negated by a false start penalty on fifth-year left tackle Mike McGlinchey. Then junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush missed a deep connection with sophomore receiver Chase Claypool.
The dropped pass counted as a good thing. The deep shot showed Wimbush was still healthy, at least as far as football is concerned. Instead of the needed win costing Notre Dame its offensive keystone to a left hand injury, the sloppy victory fit in line with what has become a usual Irish offensive performance, though this one exceeded even those expanding norms.
“I’d say offensively, they’re certainly up there with the caliber of Clemson,” Demon Deacons head coach Dave Clawson said. “They’re a really good football team. They’ve beaten a lot of good teams. They beat us today and we’re a good team.”
The Irish rushed for 384 yards, led by Wimbush’s 114 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back and Heisman-hopeful Josh Adams took only five carries for 22 yards, sidelined for all but the first quarter after a hit to the head prompted concussion concerns. Kelly said Adams was cleared to return, but the exercised caution caused no harm. Notre Dame averaged 8.53 yards per carry. It gained a total of 710 yards. For now on, let’s just call that “a lot” of yards, because 710 is a somewhat difficult to fathom.
Most of them were necessary, though. After being held to 10 points and 242 yards in the first half, Wake Forest managed 27 points and 345 after halftime.
“Winning is hard, especially in November,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “Anytime that you find a way to win football games when teams are executing at a high level, which Wake Forest executed their offense extremely well today, you’re pleased.”
Wimbush played a key role in the offensive showcase, adding 280 yards and a touchdown through the air to his rushing totals. All that was nearly rendered a footnote when just before halftime he took a hit at the end of a 28-yard run. Though he did not score, Wimbush remained down in the Notre Dame Stadium north end zone for a few minutes. From there he went straight up the tunnel to the locker room, emerging after the break with a padded glove protecting his non-throwing hand. A large bandage covered the hand in post-game interviews.
Wimbush said the injury did not bother him much in the second half, and it should not moving forward, either, then admitting taking snaps from center was difficult.
“But we don’t do that too much and we were able to do the things we do under center out of the gun or out of the pistol, so it didn’t affect much in terms of the throwing game,” Wimbush said. “Maybe handing it off, as well, but everything is good and I’ll be good to go next week.”
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
For the second consecutive game and the third time this season, sophomore cornerback Julian Love jumped a route and saw clear passage to the end zone in front of him. This time Love ended a Wake Forest drive early in the second quarter with the Irish leading 14-3. A touchdown would grant Notre Dame both a three-possession lead and an abundance of momentum.
Unfortunately for Love’s stats, Deacons senior quarterback John Wolford had an angle on him and knocked him out of bounds at the five-yard line. No matter, sophomore running back Tony Jones took the next snap into the end zone for the aforementioned lead and momentum.
It was one of Wolford’s few mistakes, finishing the day with 331 yards and two touchdowns on 28-of-45 passing. As well as the Irish defense has played this season — and it has — Wolford knows the scheme well. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko spent the last three seasons in the same role at Wake Forest.
“Their quarterback was playing against this defense for three or four years now,” Irish senior captain and linebacker Drue Tranquill said afterward. “He’s obviously very experienced in that. His eyes were in the right place at every point in the game and ours weren’t necessarily.”
Despite the defensive lapses in the second half, forcing a miscue early and immediately capitalizing on it set Notre Dame toward the eventual win. Love is beginning to make a habit of such.
OVERLOOKED POINT OF THE GAME
The Irish defense had yet to relax when the Deacons marched 54 yards in three minutes midway through the third quarter. That was simply a good offense, and if it went the final 23 yards to the end zone, the Notre Dame lead would have been cut to 34-17 with six minutes left in the third quarter. Wake Forest might have started to wonder about the realm of possibility.
Instead, Irish senior defensive end Jay Hayes forced Wolford to rush a pass and then Love made a tackle in the backfield to bring up third-and-12. When the Deacons could not convert, they turned to their field goal unit.
Missing the field goal was an added bonus for Notre Dame. The real task had been to keep Wake Forest out of the end zone. The 24-point deficit was not going to be overcome in 21 minutes relying on field goals.
PLAY(S) OF THE GAME
This could qualify as another overlooked point of the game. Tossing superlatives on it may seem out of place. One should not usually praise spin moves that lead to unnecessary fumbles and injured running backs.
Toward the end of the first quarter, Wimbush took to a scramble, attempting to make something happen with a mere 7-3 lead. As he spun from a tackle, Deacons linebacker Kalin McNeil poked away the ball. It bounced around for a moment. Somewhere in this sequence Adams took the hit that knocked him out for the day.
Irish senior left guard Quenton Nelson saw the ball, already on the ground having physically completed a block. He climbed over a Wake Forest defensive lineman to get to it.
Of course he did. Nelson does whatever he wants on a football field.
The drive resulted in only a Notre Dame field goal and a 10-3 lead, but that was far preferable to the Irish than gifting the Deacons a short-field and a chance at their second lead of the day.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
To produce 390 total yards and three touchdowns in only three quarters is to stake a claim to this space, and thus Wimbush did. He also received the game ball from Kelly.
“The narrative of him [not] being able to throw the football should change dramatically,” Kelly said. “He had a couple of drops out there or he would have easily thrown for close to 300 yards, so hopefully that has been put to rest.”
Kelly apparently did not want to play Wimbush in the second half. As much as Adams is the star of the Irish offense, Wimbush is the headache for opposing defensive coordinators. Kelly wanted to protect that asset.
“How many scrambles did he have?” Clawson asked rhetorically. “How many third-and-long scrambles did he have that we couldn’t tackle? … We’d get after the passer, get a little bit of a pass-rush, get them fleshed, but couldn’t get [him] on the ground.”
Wimbush insisted to Kelly he would play, and with that cushioned glove he did.
“I loved his grit, his toughness,” Kelly said. “Gets hit pretty hard, right before the half, and … he wanted to get back in the game. Put a pad on his hand and went back in the game and showed great grit and great leadership.”
STAT OF THE GAME
Josh Adams deserves to be in the Heisman Trophy discussion. He deserves it because he is a complete running back achieving great individual success this season. He deserves it also because Notre Dame’s offensive line is making that success quite possible. Consider the individual rushing totals Saturday:
Wimbush ran for 114 yards on 11 carries, adjusting for a sack.
Sophomore Deon McIntosh ran for 63 yards on nine carries.
Jones gained 59 yards on 10 rushes.
Sophomore quarterback Ian Book took three carries for 54 yards.
Sophomore receiver Kevin Stepherson had two end-arounds for 42 yards.
Junior Dexter Williams gained 33 yards on three carries.
And Adams managed 22 yards on five rushes before his injury.
“You could put a lot of running backs behind that offensive line and anybody will produce,” Wimbush said. “The rest of the backs did a great job of preparing throughout the week, and when they have the opportunity, they are able to take advantage of it, and obviously it’s a testament to up front continuing their dominance and opening up holes for the guys.”
QUOTE OF THE EVENING
“A little sloppy today, but the message is a win is a win.” — McGlinchey.
On a day where many of the nation’s elite did not do enough to issue such an abbreviated cliché, McGlinchey’s point rings strongly.
A win is a win is a [insert four-beat pause] win.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
8:46 — Wake Forest field goal. Mike Weaver 34 yards. Wake Forest 3, Notre Dame 0. (14 plays, 82 yards, 4:11)
6:26 — Notre Dame touchdown. Brandon Wimbush six-yard run. Justin Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 7, Wake Forest 3. (7 plays, 48 yards, 2:20)
Second Quarter
14:18 — Notre Dame field goal. Yoon 34 yards. Notre Dame 10, Wake Forest 3. (9 plays, 70 yards, 3:38)
14:00 — Notre Dame touchdown. Tony Jones five-yard rush. Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 17, Wake Forest 3. (1 play, 5 yards, 0:05)
10:13 — Wake Forest touchdown. John Wolford 20-yard rush. Weaver PAT good. Notre Dame 17, Wake Forest 10. (3 plays, 69 yards, 0:40)
8:38 — Notre Dame touchdown. Wimbush 50-yard rush. Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 24, Wake Forest 10. (5 plays, 65 yards, 1:35)
0:22 —Notre Dame touchdown. Nic Weishar one-yard reception from Ian Book. Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 31, Wake Forest 10. (9 plays, 99 yards, 2:47)
Third Quarter
9:19 — Notre Dame field goal. Yoon 22 yards. Notre Dame 34, Wake Forest 10. (12 plays, 52 yards, 4:00)
2:54 — Wake Forest touchdown. Alex Bachman 30-yard reception from Wolford. Two-point try failed. Notre Dame 34, Wake Forest 16. (6 plays, 63 yards, 1:32)
2:04 — Notre Dame touchdown. Chase Claypool 34-yard reception from Wimbush. Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 41, Wake Forest 16. (4 plays, 78 yards, 0:50)
0:30 — Wake Forest touchdown. Matt Colburn 24-yard rush. Weaver PAT good. Notre Dame 41, Wake Forest 23. (6 plays, 75 yards, 1:34)
Fourth Quarter
11:39 — Notre Dame touchdown. Deon McIntosh two-yard rush. Yoon PAT good. Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 23. (9 plays, 85 yards, 3:51)
8:45 — Wake Forest touchdown. Jack Freudenthal 11-yard reception from Wolford. Weaver PAT good. Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 30. (12 plays, 70 yards, 2:54)
0:51 — Wake Forest touchdown. Isaiah Robinson two-yard rush. Weaver PAT good. Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 37. (14 plays, 90 yards, 4:36)
[protected-iframe id="81c5dcb3ff152b64335bc70329487cf9-15933026-22035394" info="platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” ]