Notre Dame Football: The Case For Brandon Wimbush

It was very much a Charles Dickens type of season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and its quarterback, Brandon Wimbush. There were some great things and some really, really crappy things that were happening out on the field.

Without looking at any stats, I'm going to say that Wimbush probably had one of the worst statistical seasons at quarterback for any Top 25 team in the country. Furthermore, once things would go a little poorly for Brandon, he had a tendency to get that "Dayne Crist" look in his eye.

You know the one.

Still, it was just his first year as a starting quarterback and he led his team to a 9-3 regular season. Outside of the loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, the other two losses can directly be attributed to the quarterback play for Notre Dame.

That's why fans are crying out from behind the shadows.

• START IAN BOOK
• START PHIL JURKOVEC AS A TRUE FRESHMAN IN 2018
• FIRE EVERYBODY
• DONATE TO YOUR LOCAL FOOD BANK

While your feelings are certainly respected on this website, please allow me to poop on them.

Ian Book is not the answer. He is every fan cliché rolled into one steaming burrito about the favorite player being the backup quarterback.

Phil Jurkovec? Pretty sure he's in high school right now, and when was the last time Notre Dame had a successful season starting a true freshman at quarterback? I mean, maybe Jurkovec is the quarterback of the future for the Irish, but I have a hard time buying into anything about 2018.

Is there any hope for Wimbush? Is there anything, anywhere that would suggest that we might see better things from him next season and in 2019?

YES THERE IS, ACTUALLY.

Fans and the media can never help themselves — we love to do comparisons. While thinking about Wimbush the other night, my mind kept drifting to the what Lamar Jackson (Heisman Trophy winner and starting quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals) did in his first year as a starter.

How did that first year compare with Wimbush?

HOLY CRAP THAT'S REALLY CLOSE!

Those are just the passing stats. How close are they as rushers, when comparing first years as starters?

HOLY CRAP THAT'S FAIRLY CLOSE TOO!

In that 2015 season, Louisville went a very Notre Dame 8-5 by losing to; #6 Auburn Tigers, #11 Clemson Tigers, #11 Florida State Seminoles, and the Pittsburgh Panthers. They won the Music City Bowl against the Texas A&M Aggies.

OH MY GOD WHAT UNIVERSE IS THIS?

Now, I'm not saying Brandon Wimbush is going to win the Heisman in 2018 (it's only November in 2017 you silly shit — give me until May at least) but I am saying that there is a little more than just hope that Wimbush can improve and do really, really awesome things in his next two years at Notre Dame.

The Irish have many issues moving forward, and I'm certain that most people believe the biggest issue is with Brian Kelly — and they might be 100% correct in that assessment. But to think that the Irish will have a better quarterback in 2018 NOT named Brandon Wimbush still seems a little suspect to me.

Quarterbacks can get better, and in a lot of cases they do. Under Brian Kelly, however, that hasn't proved to be the case at all. Can Brandon Wimbush overcome that trend and follow the pattern left by Lamar Jackson?

I don't know. But it's what I have right now, and I'm holding it like a baby holds its blanket.