Instant Reaction | Book in for Wimbush as QB1 for Notre Dame

It’s not something that was expected after beating Michigan, but Brian Kelly and the coaching staff have made the switch to Ian Book at quarterback for the Wake Forest.

There are a lot of bigger questions attached to this change.

Is this permanent? Will they work in Brandon Wimbush situationally like they worked in Book? What does this mean for Wimbush’s future at Notre Dame? We’re going tohave to wait on those answers.

The most pertinent question for this moment is, why now?

I think it’s pretty simple based on who they are playing this week, what’s coming up after, and the struggles on offense.

We can first start with the upcoming opponent. Wake Forest is giving up over 300 yards per game passing and have given up a ton of explosive plays in the passing game. If the Irish are going to take advantage of that, they need to be able to throw the ball well down the field.

That’s something that they likely cannot count on Wimbush to do. It doesn’t matter if Wimbush has a stronger arm. It’s not about him being able to chuck it a mile. It’s about getting rid of the ball when it’s supposed to be out and doing things like moving a safety with your eyes.

Wimbush has locked on to receivers deep and teams have read it. Even on the Chris Finke touchdown against Michigan, that’s a ball that probably should have been picked if not for a great catch.

With Book, there are less examples of him throwing the deep ball but the one big one came against LSU where he starts his vision the other way before putting the ball up for Miles Boykin. The safety arrived late because of it and we all know what happened next.

Simply from a game plan perspective, it’s a fair argument that what Book does better than Wimbush gives them a better chance to win this week. Then if you look at what’s coming up after, it makes some sense as well.

If this is a switch that they wanted to potentially make permanent, this would be the week to do it. They give Book a look and if it turns out how they hope, he has a game under his belt before a huge game with Stanford at home that's then followed by a equally big game at Virginia Tech.

Waiting would mean that Book would have his first two starts against two of the better teams the Irish will face in 2018. This week at least gives him a chance to get his feet wet more than just playing situationally.

Lastly, everyone is aware of the struggles on offense. The last seven games Notre Dame has failed to score more than 24 points. They only time they broke 6.0 yards per play was against Navy. They weren’t playing against Alabama’s defense each week either. (All 21 points against LSU came when Ian Book was inserted in just before halftime. They averaged 6.55 YPP when he was in the game. )

The results with Wimbush as QB1 have not been good enough.

Is that all on Wimbush? No, it’s not. However, he hasn’t played very well. The improvements he has made this year have been minimal and his struggles with quick game accuracy and throwing the ball with anticipation are still evident.

As Bill Reagan said on Power Hour earlier this week, Wimbush is who he is at this point. And who he is as a quarterback is not something that gave people who follow Notre Dame much confidence.

I know many, myself included, have been critical of the adjustments and play-calling from Chip Long this season, but what Wimbush can't do could have had a big influence on this decision too. This change should free up Long to call the offense in a less limited way than before. With that, there will be a lot of pressure to show what the offense can be with what should be more options in the playbook.

Will it work? I don’t know, but I know what was going on in the last seven games was not working. It’s a big opportunity for Book and Long. It’s also a pretty big risk by Kelly making a change like this after going 3-0.

Kelly suggested after Tulsa back in 2010 that he was going to be a risk taker and that, “You better get used to it.” There haven’t been many big swings from him since then, though.

This feels like the biggest risk he’s taken since shaking up his staff after the 2016 season. We’ll find out if it will pay off soon enough.