Ian Book pens great first chapter in Notre Dame Playoff push
By John Buhler
It’s very early, but new Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting quarterback Ian Book has injected life into the Irish offense, with hopes of making the Playoff.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish might have already been a top-10 team heading into Saturday’s road affair with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. However, the Irish had left a lot to be desired offensively in their first three wins on the year. Perhaps head coach Brian Kelly has found a panacea for Notre Dame’s offensive woes in the form of quarterback Ian Book?
It was a bold decision for Kelly to go with Book under center over the incumbent Brandon Wimbush on Saturday afternoon against a halfway decent Wake Forest team on the road. While Wimbush went 3-0 in as many games this year, the Irish offense had mustered no more than 24 points in a contest. Book had up to Saturday started only one game for the Irish in his Notre Dame career.
Yes, wins over the Michigan Wolverines, the Ball State Cardinals and the Vanderbilt Commodores were solid, but they were all at home and all decided by seven points or fewer. So you really couldn’t blame Kelly for turning the page on Wimbush and starting a new chapter with Book as his quarterback.
Saturday’s convincing 56-27 win over the Demon Deacons at BB&T Stadium should have the Notre Dame faithful very excited about the final two-thirds of the regular season. The defense is holding strong, but more importantly, Book has given the Irish credibility on offensive side of the ball to potentially contend for a College Football Playoff spot.
In his first start of the season, Book completed 25 of 34 passes for 325 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, averaging a strong 9.5 yards per attempt. But those solid passing totals weren’t even the half of Book’s day. He also had 10 carries for 43 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Dave Clawson’s Wake Forest defense had no answer for the guy.
No, this isn’t your typical Wake Forest team either, as Clawson should have his bunch contending for another bowl bid in what looks to be a weakened ACC this fall. But we have to give credit to Kelly for making the switching and Book for his ability to execute his coach’s game plan, especially as a runner in the red zone.
Book’s performance reminded us a bit of what we saw out of DeShone Kizer over two years ago in Austin versus the Texas Longhorns. Though neither Notre Dame or Texas were the least bit good that year, we haven’t seen this kind of dominance out of an Irish quarterback since Kizer’s best day as a Golden Domer.
So what does 29-point road victory over Wake Forest on the road have to do with Notre Dame’s potential climb into the top-four? Well, we know the defense is good and that the Irish’s offense is now capable of getting into the end zone half a dozen times in a ball game if need be.
Frankly, the Irish will need more of that good stuff out of Book in the next two weeks if they even want to think about vying for a Playoff spot. They will host rival Stanford next week, who will be coming off a big rivalry game of their own the road against the Oregon Ducks. In two weeks, Book and the Irish will have to play the always-tough Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg as part of their ACC affiliate slate. Winning at Lane Stadium is always tough sledding.
In short, Notre Dame’s ceiling has gone from definite with Wimbush with no margin for error to considerably higher with some wiggle room now that Book is calling the shots. Notre Dame now has the luxury to drop one of its next two games to either Stanford or Virginia and still have a shot at the Playoff.
This of course will require fellow Playoff contenders in the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 to cannibalize in conference play. Since Notre Dame is independent, the Irish will need presumably two Power 5 conferences to fall apart in the final two months and change. That could totally happen, as it did last year.
It’s still insanely early, but we have to start giving Kelly and his boys their due. Notre Dame was somewhat of a College Football Playoff contender last year, even after their one-point home loss to eventual national runner-up Georgia.
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But this year feels different. This could be the best Notre Dame team since 2012. Having dynamism at the quarterback position in Book should have Notre Dame fans excited about this brand-new chapter of Irish football. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the year unfolds for this potential independent juggernaut. Read into this what you want.