For those who pounded the table in his favor, the argument is even stronger. For those who countered his sprint toward a place in Notre Dame record books with a hefty “Yeah, but,” the hunger for more is a lot closer to satiated.
No matter how it was previously viewed, there’s finally some unity on the career and perception of quarterback Ian Book. In Saturday’s 47-40 takedown of No. 1 Clemson that moved Notre Dame to 7-0, he either validated the already gaudy numbers and inevitable place in Notre Dame football history or wrote a chapter of his career many didn’t think he could or ever would.
And with a date against heralded former Irish backup Phil Jurkovec and Boston College up this weekend, Book picked an ideal time to author his statement. Had old team and individual habits struck, the noise around Jurkovec vs. Book would’ve reached an untenable level. Every Book misfire and Jurkovec dime would’ve been a referendum on each other’s worthiness to be Notre Dame’s starter and fueled the unrealistic idea that the backup should have supplanted incumbent.
It’s pretty quiet right now, though. There’s not as loud a clamoring for putting his legacy at stake in a game against his old understudy after he beat the top-ranked team in the land, Notre Dame’s first such victory in 27 years.
Until Saturday’s win, the more vocal crowd the last year or so was the unimpressed one, as buzz from the march to the 2018 College Football playoff faded into angst over missed reads, premature pocket bailouts, his uneven start to this season and the Irish’s big-game shortcomings he couldn’t help them overcome.
For much of the last two years, Book’s soon-to-be top spot atop the all-time wins list of Notre Dame quarterbacks echoed into empty air for some. He was going to be judged by this game against Clemson, not by dusting overmatched ACC teams. Feel the pulse of some fan circles, and it sometimes seemed as if the most visible player of the Brian Kelly era had gotten staler over time. His third-quarter fumble on the goal line Saturday in a tie game only amplified the grumbles.
Book took a punch when he had the ball stripped on a third-down run.
But he swung back. And connected. For redemption. For a boost to his legacy. For a monumental win.
“Things happen,” Book said. “Playmakers forget about it. I just told myself if I keep thinking about this, I’m going to have a worse game.”
The lasting image of this game and his career could’ve been him momentarily frozen on all fours in the end zone, head hung, weight of thousands of shellshocked fans on his drooped shoulders as he watched Clemson’s Baylon Spector vacuum up his fumble.
Instead, the memory is his response.
Specifically, his euphoric hooting and hollering as Notre Dame students poured onto the field, a moment not possible without a 91-yard touchdown drive to force overtime that took 86 seconds. During it, Book completed a 53-yard pass to Avery Davis and found Davis from 4 yards out for the tying touchdown with 22 seconds left. Signed. Sealed. Silenced. Delivered. His 27-3 record as a starter has some more juice behind it now.
“Not to take away anything from anyone else,” said Will Hewlett, Book’s trainer since high school, “but that final drive, I don’t know how anyone argues it would have been better with someone else.”
His teammates sure won’t.
“There are a lot of people who doubt Book,” said left tackle and fellow three-year starter Liam Eichenberg on Tuesday. “It’s not great to see…I see how hard he works every single day, in the film room, on the field, in the weight room, the amount of time he has dedicated and sacrificed to help this football team win and for us to take the next step in the right direction.
“I think Ian is the best quarterback in the country. I’ll say that every day. I think he’s the best leader on the team.”
Added Davis, after the game: “To see him go out there and perform like that, it was amazing. This is a game that’s literally going to live on forever. We just made history. I’m super proud of him.”
Book’s final stat line — 22-for-39 for 310 yards with a touchdown, plus 75 sack-adjusted rushing yards — contained a little bit of everything skeptics wanted to see. He hung in the pocket. Dodged pressure and didn’t invent any. Took shots at will and completed them.
Book threw eight passes of at least 20 yards against Clemson, connecting on three. That matched his combined attempt total from the prior three games. Against pressure, he was 4-for-9 for 44 yards. All completions were first downs. All incompletions were throwaways where he skated from damage. Against blitzes, Book was 12-for-22 for 200 yards, a sturdy 9.1 yards per attempt. Five of the misses were throwaways. One was a drop. He scrambled three times for positive yards.
“The way he’s avoiding pressure, keeping his eyes downfield, it’s coming together at the right time,” Hewlett said.
All of that outweighed the fumble, a play which may have sent previous Irish teams and quarterbacks spiraling. Not this unit. Not this three-year starter with only three career losses. There’s something new about them, and naturally, they produced a different ending than the one Notre Dame fans grew accustomed to seeing in the biggest moments and surely prepared for after the fumble.
“I went up to him right away,” Kelly said. “I said, Listen, we're going to need you to win this game for us. It will come down on your shoulders and you're going to win the game. I just stayed positive with him.
“I just felt like if we gave him enough time, he would do it again.”
Book’s brush-off of his gaffe is a reminder there will be missteps, but they’re survivable as long as the good moments and clutch throws overshadow them. The structure around him is set up to help with that task. Notre Dame has a consistent running game, dynamic backs and an offensive line that might be the country’s best.
The path to a legacy grander than most thought Book could leave is now visible. By delivering against Clemson, he set up Notre Dame for more games like it this year. The Irish will head into those without the pesky narrative following them and a real belief their national championship goals are attainable.
No matter what happened Saturday or what happens the rest of the year, he’d be a winner because the numbers say it. Now, though, the list of vanquished foes includes a No. 1 team. Kelly’s “he wins football games” dismissal of criticism of Book carries some real oomph. As does Book’s case as one of the school’s all-time greats.
“Maybe it’s not something that’s necessarily spoken about, but you want to leave that storied program with a legacy,” Hewlett said. “But at the end of the day, his focus is on winning, and that’ll take care of itself.”
Saturday, it finally did, and allowed Notre Dame fans to widen their eyes and think bigger.
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