Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from victory over North Carolina

Notre Dame football rounded out the midway point of their season with a 33-10 win over North Carolina. Here are three things we learned from the win.

With a different offense in place due to injuries, there was much to take away from this Irish win. The Irish pulled it off once again, beating a reeling Tar Heel team by 23 points. A game-time decision to sit quarterback Brandon Wimbush caught many fans by surprise, but it was evident by backup Ian Book‘s participation in practice that he was being prepared for this very scenario all along.

The Irish were just as overwhelming in this game as they have been in many others this season, able to display a strong grip on the game outside of a few momentum swings from the Tar Heels.

The Irish will now carry all the momentum in the world into next week’s bye before a matchup against the 14th ranked USC Trojans. Before getting into that matchup, here are three takeaways from today’s decisive victory over North Carolina.

3. Book is a great backup

Irish fans concerned with Wimbush’s inability to throw the football got their first look at sophomore Ian Book as a starter. What we saw in today’s game was that Book is a capable game manager. Outside of a couple questionable interceptions, Book did a good job of differing to his teammates for the majority of the game.

While Book certainly had some impressive throws, he did stall a few times on offense. In an ideal world, one without chemistry or momentum, a combination of Book and Wimbush would give the Irish a great one-two punch. However, as the Irish know all too well after failed attempts to mix in Malik Zaire with both Everett Golson and DeShone Kizer, two quarterback approaches rarely work.

Wimbush undoubtedly gives this team the best chance to win, regardless of how you spin it. Book is a far superior passer, but the threat Wimbush provides on the ground far surpasses most of the upside Book brings to the table. However, Book has proved himself capable of keeping his team in the game should Wimbush find himself sidelined again.

At the end of the day, Book’s performance against the Tar Heels was about as encouraging as it gets outside of spurring a quarterback controversy. His backfield took off much pressure, allowing him to play his game. Considering Wimbush was active and available today, there’s a good chance Book finds himself back on the bench when the Irish return in a couple of weeks.