Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from regular-season finale at Stanford

3. Ian Book comes up big after a slow start

It was a quiet start for Ian Book, as the Notre Dame quarterback found himself outpaced by Stanford counterpart Davis Mills for much of the first half. After huge games against Navy and Boston College, it was an uncharacteristic pace at the beginning of the battle in the Bay Area. In the end, however, Book pulled away to win on the stat sheet as well as on the scoreboard.

Book finished with 17 completions on his 30 passing attempts, as he ended the afternoon with 255 yards and four scoring strikes against the Cardinal secondary. While he is much better known for his arm, Book also ripped off a 26-yard run and several other positive gains to offset lost yardage from sacks and finish with 29 net rushing yards.

For Notre Dame, so much of their offense is predicated on watching their quarterback perform at an exemplary level. When he is unable to drive the offense, as he struggled in the start against Stanford, opponents have a chance to upset the Fighting Irish. Once he finds his A-game, however, few teams are able to keep pace with the ultra-efficient quarterback and the potent offense he guides.

If Notre Dame ends up getting selected for one of the at-large bids into a New Year’s Six bowl game this year, it will largely be due to the efforts put in by Book all season long both at home and on the road.