Preface
There is a new sensation within the ND football fan base. That sensation is the Junior quarterback Ian Book. Since Book’s first start of the season against Wake Forest, the offensive has taken on a new identity. Book has stepped up to the challenge and is emerging as the leader on the offense. Book holds himself to the same standards as he holds his offensive squad.
On Saturday night, the following question came from a member of the press during Ian’s post game conference. “What made the offense click at such a high level with you at quarterback the last two weeks?” Ian’s response: I don’t know. I’m trying to bring the tempo, I know personally, to get these guys to rally behind me, work faster as an offense and just bring some juice and be a leader.” Book is truly humbled in his current role. Let’s take a quick look into his numbers.
Wake Forest Performance
Enroute to the 56-27 win over Wake Forest, The Irish garnered a whopping 566 total offense yards. Hidden in the numbers are the following statistics. Book 25-34 for 325 yards, two touchdown passes (one TD for 66 yards), and a quarterback rating of 173.2. Personally Book had 10 rush attempts for 43 yards including 3 rushing touchdowns. When you take the total passing yards of 325 and include the 43 yards rushing, the numbers add up to 368 yards. Book delivered 65% of the total offensive yards in the game. Incredible numbers for his first start of the year.
Stanford Performance
The Stanford game didn’t have the high scoring of Wake Forest, the result was the same. A 38-17 win over Stanford. The Irish racked up another huge day on offense with 550 total offense yards. Once again, hidden in the numbers are the following statistics. Book 24-33 for 278 yards, four touchdown passes (one TD for 35 yards), and a quarterback rating of 183.5. Personally Book had 15 rush attempts for 47 yards. When you take the total passing yards of 278 and include the 47 yards rushing, the numbers add up to 325 yards. Book delivered 59.1% of the total offensive yards in the game. Once again, amazing numbers for his second start of the year.
Post Game Press Conference Against Stanford
Summary
Book has the Irish nation in a whirlwind. Fans just love seeing an Irish offense performing at such a high level. Folks are comparing him to the Irish greats including Montana. The important part is that his teammates are responding. The wide receivers, tight ends and occasionally the running backs all like to take part in such a high energy offense. In the end, the numbers don’t lie. Book and his teammates are putting in the work during the week and executing that plan on Saturdays on the field.
The next chapter for Book is against Virginia Tech on Saturday at 8 PM on ABC.
Cheers and Go Irish! 🏈⚡☘