Notre Dame Football: 5 bold predictions for October 2018

5. Ian Book throws for 1,000 yards

Virginia Tech’s run defense has been one of the nation’s best, sitting at fourth in the country in opponent YPC. While the Notre Dame rushing attack has been explosive, it hasn’t been particularly grueling when it comes to tiring out opposing defenders. As it stands right now, the Irish have posted a 4.4 YPC as a team, good for only 77th in the country.

This puts some pressure on Book and the Notre Dame offense, particularly against the Hokies, to accumulate yardage through the air. The run game has been effective in the redzone, averaging 2.6 rushing scores per game, but the trio of Dexter Williams, Tony Jones Jr., and Jafar Armstrong can’t be relied on to carry this offense alone.

Throwing for 616 yards with only two starts to his name in 2018, Book has a particularly favorable schedule for the month of October. While Virginia Tech has been stout against the run, they deploy one of the nation’s most exploitable secondaries, a unit that recently allowed Old Dominion’s Blake LaRussa to throw for nearly 500 yards and four touchdowns.

Neither Pitt nor Navy have been particularly effective in pass defense themselves, providing the perfect opportunity for Book to rack up yardage against three exploitable secondaries. 1,000 yards in three games would be exceptional, but if there’s any time for Book to complete such a feat it’s now.