Wimbush is a dynamic runner.
That whole game, USC's defense looked sluggish and uninspired. Consistently allowing slow-developing runs to burst for big yardage. The o-line was certainly opening up some nice holes for Adams, but there was extremely poor play on the back end to clean things up.
On the other side, USC's offense was completely lackluster and out-of-sync. It's tough to tell how much of that is due to ND's performance and how much is just on Darnold & Co. I will say that Darnold has yet to 'wow' me this season. You put him in a different uniform and very few folks are talking about his accomplishments at the QB position.
For reference:
Notre Dame
USC
To my point about this matchup: USC's rush defense is
bad. Their pass defense is
good. This lines up fairly well with the video- Wimbush really only had two passing highlights. He was under 50% on the evening and went for 120. Of course- you don't need to pass much when you have two 100+ yard rushers- but see the first part of this blurb.
Bonus round: two battles that I think will be decisive.
Miami
1. Miami's offense isn't exceptionally efficient. Notre Dame's defense is quite efficient. However, Miami's offense is one of the most explosive (6th) in the country. And despite the 'bend but don't break' line that gets trotted out with regard to ND's defense, they're sitting just barely above average at 46th in terms of limiting points per play (PPP). This indicates that the game will be a microcosm of Miami's season- offensive droughts punctuated by explosive plays.
2. On the flip side, Miami is 9th in the nation in defending against drive finishes while Notre Dame is 10th in the nation in the same category offensively (specifically, this is "points per trip past the opponent's 40-yard-line"). This is one of those "unstoppable force - immovable object" matchups and I'm very excited to see it play out. Given that Notre Dame relies so heavily on the running game, I think that the TFL stat will be one of the most important ones with regard to this battle. Notre Dame is tied for 50th in the FBS for TFLs allowed per game at 5.44 while Miami is 2nd in the nation at getting them (8.8 per game).
This is going to be a dogfight between two well-coached teams. An emerging strength of Miami's defense is the secondary and will allow Manny Diaz to sell out against the run without exposing the back end too much. Miami's DL will be the most athletic one that Notre Dame has faced- including UGA's. I think that their ability to penetrate the backfield quickly will prove to be too disruptive for Adams to get into his regular form. On the other side, I expect the Canes to make a few more plays than the Notre Dame defense and win this bad boy by fewer than 10 points.
