Notre Dame Football: Top 5 overreactions from big Virginia Tech win

5. Ian Book took a step back

The Notre Dame off didn’t get off to a fast start and Book seemed out of sync for much of the first half.

He has brought a new dimension to this team but his trust in his arm can sometimes lead to mistakes. There was a particularly bad interception early in the second half that saw the defender basically hiding at the line of scrimmage, then popping up at the last second to pick off the pass.

Book had a decent game against Bud Foster’s defense, finishing 25-for-35 with 271 yards through the air, two touchdowns and one interception. The Fighting Irish will only go as far as Book takes them, and he will need to play better in the next couple of weeks to keep Notre Dame in the playoff discussion.

The Fighting Irish face Pittsburgh next week and the Panthers were able to slow down Eric Dungey and the high-powered Orange passing attack, holding Dungey to under 200 yards passing and forcing two interceptions.