Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly made the somewhat surprising decision to bench Brandon Wimbush despite a 3-0 start, but he hinted on Saturday that the quarterback’s Fighting Irish career isn’t over.
Junior quarterback Ian Book started against Wake Forest on Saturday and impressed. He scored five total touchdowns — three rushing, two passing — and threw for 325 yards.
With numbers like that, it stands to reason that Book will keep the job going forward, but Kelly said after the game that he intends to work Wimbush in again as well.
Kelly on QBs moving forward: "We saw today our offensive operated very well with Ian Book but we also beat a top 10 team in Michigan. It would be absolutely foolish for me to sit here & say 'we have one quarterback & one quarterback only. We have 2 really good quarterbacks." 1/3
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) September 22, 2018
Kelly on QBs moving forward: “I’m going to reserve the right to decide each & every week who's the best guy for that week to win & without trying to trick or be guarded, we are going to pick the guy we think is going to help us win a game.” 2/3
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) September 22, 2018
Kelly on QBs moving forward: “This was a perfect game for Ian Book. There are going to be certain games that are going to be really suited for Wimbush too. We are going to use them both." 3/3
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) September 22, 2018
Kelly felt that, despite the team’s success, the offense was putting too much pressure on the defense. It’s something of an indictment of Wimbush, but Kelly isn’t closing the door on him. Still, much like another school with two established quarterbacks, one will probably have an edge over the other, and Book looks more likely to get the bulk of the snaps.
