Previewing the Notre Dame Offense

The Wake Forest football team will travel to Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 3:30pm on Saturday.

Notre Dame is coming off of a 35-14 victory at home over NC State, and is now 7-1 and ranked 5th in this week’s AP Poll. The Irish’s only loss on the year was a 20-19 defeat at the hands of #2 Georgia.

The Irish are averaging 40.5 points per game, good for 10th in the nation. They average only 150.9 passing yards per game, which ranks them 119th. But they average a whopping 317.9 rush yards per game, which ranks them 6th in the nation. Notre Dame is ranked 8th in offensive efficiency at 83.5.

The offense is led by junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush. He is 87 for 169 for 1007 yards passing with a 51.5% completion rate on the season. Wimbush has thrown for 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, and averages 5.96 yards per attempt. He has also been sacked 12 times.

Wimbush also has 89 carries for 529 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He averages 5.9 yards per carry, and has 65 yard touchdown run to his credit this season.

Junior running back Josh Adams leads the run game with 132 carries for 1169 yards and 9 touchdowns. He averages 8.9 yards per carry, and has an 84 yard touchdown run on the year.

Deon McIntosh, Dexter Williams, and Tony Jones Jr. could also see time at running back.

Junior Equanimeous St. Brown is the leading receiver with 20 receptions for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. He averages 12.7 yards per catch.

Senior tight end Durham Smythe has 10 receptions for 182 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore receiver Chase Claypool has 15 receptions for 174 yards and a touchdown. Junior tight end Alize Mack has 17 receptions for 154 yards. Josh Adams also plays a factor in the passing game out of the backfield.

Junior kicker Justin Yoon is perfect on extra points on the season, making all 43 he has attempted. But he is 7-10 on field goals, missing 3 from 40-49 yards out. His long on the season is a 46 yarder.

Notre Dame is not an option-running team, but they might as well be considered like Georgia Tech with all the run plays, and the fact that the offense is completely centered around the run game.

Dave Clawson and the staff will have to be aggressive in the run game to match the Irish’s ground game, especially with the season-ending injury to Greg Dortch.