Notre Dame Football: 3 hot takes from ugly win over Louisville

2. The passing game is a non-factor

Tommy Rees should know what it takes for a veteran quarterback to lead the offense. He was just that at Notre Dame not too long ago and he knows that he would have been a shell of himself without the coaching staff’s trust. So why the heck doesn’t he trust Ian Book?

Is this really that hot of a take to assume that the Fighting Irish coaching staff doesn’t exactly believe in Book’s arm talent? Not really because look at the numbers.

Book had just 19 pass attempts on Saturday, completing 11 of them for only 106 yards and zero touchdowns. In the three games leading up to the Louisville matchup, Book was averaging about 200 yards per game and about 25 attempts. That’s not the line of a kid who has the coaching staff’s trust. Not even close.

Maybe he’s regressed as a passer or maybe his own confidence is waning, but the staff may be thinking about what the offense would look like if Phil Jurkovec was leading the way.

The passing game right now is a non-factor.