Notre Dame raced off to a 31-10 halftime lead, and hung on despite giving up 27 points in the last 18 minutes for a 48-37 victory over Wake Forest. The Irish recorded over 700 yards in total offense, including 380 yards rushing. The defense, which has performed extremely well to date, was torched for 587 yards. Surprisingly, the Demon Deacons ran for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Coming into the contest, Notre Dame had allowed only 117 rush yards per game and surrendered just one touchdown over land this season. Various injuries to key Irish players also put a damper on the victory, which moved the hosts to 8-1 on the season and solidified their number three position in the playoff rankings.

Brandon Wimbush was the star performer for Notre Dame as tailback Josh Adams left the game in the first period with a non-serious injury. He was held out of further action as a precaution. Wimbush ran for two first half scores, including a 50-yarder, and threw for another in a 280-yard passing performance. Costly drops by his receivers kept Wimbush from an even better statistical showing. Wimbush injured his non-passing (left) hand late in the first half but returned to action in the third quarter. Ian Book ultimately came on in relief and played the entire fourth period. Wideout Chase Claypool had a breakout day with nine receptions for 180 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown. Cornerback Julian Love was the best player on defense. He recorded an interception that he returned to the Deacon five yard line and had numerous tackles and pass breakups.

Wake Forest showed grit and determination by refusing to go away and moving through Mike Elko’s defense with unsettling ease, particularly in the second half. Although Notre Dame answered the first four Deacons scores with remarkable speed, the final 14 points of the game were scored by Wake Forest and left a sour taste. Fortunately, the injuries to Wimbush and Adams should not impact their status going forward, while defensive end Khalid Kareem had to be assisted off the field on two separate occasions.

Let’s review the answers to the pregame questions:

Who will win the chess match between old friends Clawson and Elko? Clawson got the better of the matchup by racking up many more yards and points that Notre Dame had given up this season, but Elko was on the right side of the most important statistic.

Will the Deacon backs and receivers be able to provide much-needed help to Wolford? Wolford threw for 331 yards and his receivers picked up the slack for the injured Greg Dortch. Tailback Matt Colburn ran for an impressive 120 yards as well.

Can the Irish bottle up Wolford in the pocket and force him to throw the ball under pressure? Yes, quite a few times in fact, but the determined Wolford resurrected himself more times than Freddy Krueger.

Will Wimbush continue to improve his efficiency as a passer? He was only 15 of 30 despite a game plan that was designed to showcase the passing game, but his receivers missed far too many catchable balls.

Can Adams turn in another 200-yard performance? No, but the rest of the backs picked up the slack. Wimbush was forced to run more times than I would have preferred and took more hits than was ideal.

Will the Notre Dame special teams finally demonstrate competence? C.J. Sanders had a long kickoff return and nearly broke it, while Justin Yoon barely came up short on a 50-yard field goal attempt.

Can the Irish maintain the high level of motivation they have carried throughout the season? Frankly, it seemed as though they just wanted to get through this game and were spooked a bit by the early rash of injuries.

Now that the playoff rankings are released, will Notre Dame start playing for style points? If the second half was supposed to deliver style points, it sure fell flat. Fortunately, however, the Irish outshone Ohio State and Penn State in the playoff derby and held service with Oklahoma and Clemson.

The Irish need to regroup for next week’s showdown at undefeated Miami. Elko must come to terms with the notion that this game will serve as a blueprint for how to attack his defense. The concern for the offense is the health of the running backs, where Adams, Tony Jones and Dexter Williams are all operating well below 100%.

Final Note: Our best wishes to legendary ND Football journalist Tim Prister, who took ill before today’s game but is doing better tonight. Tim is the premier source of information regarding Notre Dame athletics in the modern era. His integrity and passion set the bar at a high level that the rest of us can only hope to approach.