Wimbush: "It's one heck of a feeling"
The Notre Dame offseason came to an end on Saturday night as the Irish held off a late charge from Michigan to win 24-17.
Saturday night also provided an end to offseason talk, and Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush had a chance to show off he was an improved player from a year ago, and the New Jersey native did precisely that.
Grit is a power word around the Notre Dame program, and it doesn’t get much grittier than what the nation saw from Wimbush.
The 6-foot-2, 226-pounder completed 12-of-22 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but he also rushed 19 times for 59 yards, including crucial first downs in the second half.
“We're playing football again,” Wimbush said following the win. “I just had so much fun out there. Just playing ball and not worrying about anything else. We put in so much time. I feel like it's been a long time coming since we've been out there playing a full football game. I think everybody, all the guys were excited to get out there.”
Wimbush’s night had several highlights, but the highlight came in the first quarter when he found Chris Finke down the middle of the field for a 43-yard scoring strike. Finke made a spectacular grab, but Wimbush saw the advantage and made the play.
“They played too high,” explained Wimbush. “I think the backside safety got into the play with Finke. Wasn't as clean as we thought it would be, but No. 10 went out there and made a great play. Couldn't be more happy for him. But you know, that was one of the things that we wanted to attack, and that was one of our first nine plays we wanted to hit, and obviously, we executed it.”
Michigan’s defense made moving the ball tough as expected, but Wimbush credits the offensive line for allowing himself and the skill position players to get loose.
“Those guys did a great job up front,” Wimbush stated. “You're able to see that. I think the defensive line for Michigan has been highly touted and highly regarded this off-season. I think the I think our offensive line did an excellent job of holding their own and giving me time back there to do what I needed to do to get things done. Big shout-out to those guys.”
The Irish and Wimbush passed the first test of the year, and now Notre Dame will look for consistency to have the same feeling each Saturday.
“Some of the greatest feelings are coming back into the locker room and seeing people that mean so much to you, from the top of the University to Tommy Rees, just smiling,” said Wimbush. “Everybody is smiling and feeling great. It's one heck of a feeling, and I hope this boat continues to roll. We'll do whatever we have to do.”