Notre Dame Football Update: Wake Forest Week

Some updates from Head Coach Brian Kelly after Thursday’s practice

Once the rumor mill started churning (and people that weren’t anonymous with anonymous sources started coming forward) it’s been a wild ride on the internet for fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Will there be a change at quarterback against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons?

Ian Book vs Brandon Wimbush according to Brian Kelly:

“They’re both going to play. I’ve said that all year. We need both to win, and they’re both ready.”

When pressed further:

“They’re both going to play. They’re both prepared and ready to go. We’re going to need both of them. We think he’s a good quarterback. We recruited him to Notre Dame to win championships just as we did with Brandon. That’s why we put him in the game against Vanderbilt. If we put him in this weekend, it will be because we believe he can help us win.”

Kelly went on to say that the reps were split 50/50 this week rather than the usually 60/40.

Are there other options at NICKEL?

Earlier this week, I included the NICKEL in the depth chart despite no official release from Notre Dame. While it had Nick Coleman and Houston Griffith listed, we saw Julian Love move over to that spot against Vanderbilt. So, maybe we could see more of that this week?

“Donte Vaughn is playing pretty good football. Julian has the flexibility to move inside. We taught him the nickel, and it puts three veteran players on the field for us with Pride, Vaughn and Julian.”

File this in the “In Case You Missed It” file.

Former four star defensive tackle, Darnell Ewell, has a new position:

“We moved him to the offensive line. He’s so physically strong, and we felt as we looked at the depth of certain positions, it was an area we had some issues. We felt like he could make some strides there this year and he has. He’s really strong and uses his lower body well. He can move people off the point. Early indications are it may be a good fit for him.”