Road to the College Football Playoff: Ian Book ignites Notre Dame offense

Notre Dame is in the College Football Playoff for the first time and it wouldn’t be possible without Brian Kelly’s decision to turn to Ian Book.

The Cotton Bowl will feature two teams who made quarterback changes during the season. Clemson turned to freshman Trevor Lawrence and Notre Dame turned to Ian Book. While Clemson likely would still be in this situation with Kelly Bryant keeping his job, the same likely can’t be said if Brian Kelly didn’t sit Brandon Wimbush in favor of Book.

Ian Book opens up the offense

Wimbush started the first three games of the season, including the season opener against Michigan. Notre Dame won all three games with him under center, but a 24-16 win vs. Ball State and a 22-17 win vs. Vanderbilt was enough for Kelly to pull the ripcord and go to Book. In his first start, Book threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three scores in a 56-27 win over Wake Forest. One week later, he threw a career-high four touchdowns in the win against then-No. 7 Stanford. And hesitation about whether Kelly made the right call was removed after that convincing win.

Dexter Williams adds a second dimension to the offense

As great as Book has been, the offense found a second gear when running back Dexter Williams returned from his unconfirmed four-game suspension to begin the year. Williams quickly began to make up for lost time, rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown in his first game back vs. Stanford. One week later, he ran for 178 and three touchdowns vs. Virginia Tech.

The way Williams was able to complement Book and alleviate the pressure on his right shoulder provided a 1-2 combo that defenses weren’t able to stop. Notre Dame’s No. 33 scoring offense ranks well below the three other playoff participants (Oklahoma – 1, Alabama – 2, Clemson – 5) so Williams will be counted on breaking through the Clemson front and will be the key to a Cotton Bowl upset.

Playoff prognosis

The Fighting Irish are 11.5-point underdogs vs. Clemson. For Notre Dame to advance to play the winner of Oklahoma and Alabama in the National Championship Game, they’ll need to play their best game of the year. In fact, they’ll need to play a perfect game to emerge victoriously. Book will need to throw for 275-plus yards and can’t have any turnovers. Williams will need to find running room against Clemson’s vaunted defensive line.

Notre Dame’s much-improved defense is the most important element of the game and will have to pressure Lawrence and force him into bad decisions. They have to win the turnover battle and field position game. Lastly, they have to take advantage of trips to the red zone and convert them into seven points and not settle for field goals. It’s a tall order but if they do that, they should remain undefeated.