SOUTH BEND, Ind. _ Josh Adams wasn't feeling like himself, so Notre Dame kept the Heisman Trophy candidate on the sideline for most of Saturday's game against Wake Forest.
Quarterback Brandon Wimbush made sure the No. 3 Irish kept rolling.
Wimbush rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns as the Irish beat the Demon Deacons 48-37 at Notre Dame Stadium.
Wimbush also completed 15 of 30 passes for 280 yards and one touchdown, leading the Irish (8-1) to their seventh consecutive victory.
"I played within the expectations of the offense," Wimbush said. "And obviously without Josh, the rest of the guys came in and did a great job, and I took more responsibility on myself to make those plays.
"The progression is heading the right way for the entire offense."
Wimbush suffered a contusion to his left hand at the end of a 28-yard run in the final minute of the second quarter. He left briefly but returned to play the third quarter. He said his left hand feels "good."
"I love his grit and his toughness," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "He gets hit pretty hard right before the half and I try to keep him out of the game in the third quarter. He had no thoughts of that."
Wimbush offset the loss of Adams.
The junior running back entered the game sixth nationally in rushing yards per game (146.1). He had 22 yards on five carries Saturday against Wake Forest (5-4). His final carry came late in the first quarter.
"We were really conservative with him in terms of not putting him in the game, but he wasn't in our concussion protocol," Kelly said. "We didn't have to move him through with a head injury per se, so hopefully he's feeling better (Sunday) with some rest.
"He was a bit run down this week. He wasn't feeling himself. He just didn't feel 100 percent, and we're not going to put somebody in the game if he doesn't feel 100 percent."
Notre Dame continued to put up big offensive numbers in Adams' absence.
The Irish had 710 yards of offense, falling 10 yards short of matching the school's single-game record of 720 against Navy in 1969.
Notre Dame had 380 rushing yards, marking the seventh time the Irish had at least 300 this season.
Backup running backs Deon McIntosh and Tony Jones Jr. rushed for 63 and 59 yards, respectively with one touchdown apiece.
"The rest of the backs did a great job of preparing throughout the week, and when they have the opportunity they are able to take advantage of it," Wimbush said.
Wimbush had touchdown runs of 6 and 50 yards in the first half.
His 34-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool in the third quarter extended Notre Dame's lead to 41-16.
The Irish won despite surrendering 587 yards of offense.
"It was a little sloppy, but the message is a win's a win," offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey said. "We have a good thing going here right now and we have to make sure we keep it going."
