Notre Dame football looked rusty in their Week 2 win over Ball State. The Irish are running out of time to sort things out before the meat of the schedule arrives.

Notre Dame hosts Vanderbilt in Week 3 and travels to Wake Forest in Week 4. Those games, although hardly able to be considered “gimmes”, offer the final two chances Notre Dame will get to solve some of their biggest issues before it’s too late.

The Irish close September with a home game against Stanford before taking a road trip to Virginia Tech. That’s a pair of Top 15 squads right now and both could be inside the Top 10, along with Notre Dame, by the time they meet the Irish on the field. The specialty of both of those oncoming opponents is defense, something that should make Notre Dame fans nervous after back-to-back uninspiring offensive performances.

Vanderbilt and Wake Forest currently rank 19th and 97th in total defense. Vanderbilt has played MTSU and Nevada, so that number will come down precipitously soon. Those defenses are a significant step down from where Stanford and Virginia Tech stand at 31st and 28th, respectively. If Brandon Wimbush can’t get things figured out against the Commodores or the Demon Deacons it wouldn’t make sense for Kelly to trust him against two of the better defenses in college football.

Ian Book might not be the answer, but the Irish had better dispose of all options otherwise they’ll find themselves in the same place as last season: all pomp in the lead-up, no substance when the lights were the brightest.

Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame has oscillated from high to low and back again. The talent is there in South Bend and he needs to find a way to make the most of it. The win over Michigan will quickly be forgotten if Notre Dame has two losses before the middle of October.