Notre Dame has put the camp portion of fall practice in the rear view mirror, and today the Irish were in game mode. The Irish offense and defense worked on game prep for Louisville, which means they are working against scout teams instead of the ones vs. ones we've seen throughout camp.
QUICK HITTERS
* Junior wide receiver Michael Young had his arm in a sling after under-going surgery on his broken collarbone.
* Junior tight end Cole Kmet no longer has his arm in a sling. He spent practice working with the trainers during certain periods and he was around the offense during other periods.
* Freshman offensive tackle Quinn Carroll remains out with a knee injury.
* Freshman wide receiver Kendall Abdur-Rahman and freshman center Zeke Correll were also out for today's practice.
PRACTICE STANDOUTS
QB IAN BOOK: Senior quarterback Ian Book was outstanding during today’s practice. Keep in mind this was against the scout team, and this wasn’t an overly physical practice by design, so players are going to be a bit more open. But that doesn’t discount how effective Book was today.
I had him down as going 38-41 during all the live periods against either the scout team, during 1on1s or when the offense went against the No. 2 defense. Even more impressive, I had Book going 20-21 during team periods. When the ball isn’t hitting the ground in the throwing game it’s an outstanding day for the quarterback.
Even more important, Book attacked down the field and over the middle throughout the practice. I had Book completing three posts routes (all during team periods), four seam throws – including that got over top of the defense, three wide fade routes, a deep in and a deep drag. Book’s timing was much better today, and outside of one slight underthrow on a post route he was leading receivers and placing the ball effectively.
There were a couple of snaps where Book had a chance to go deep again and didn’t, but overall he was looking to push the ball vertically, and he did so with much success. Book also made good decisions in the run game when it came to when to hand off, when to pull and run, and when to pull and throw.
RB JAFAR ARMSTRONG: Junior running back Jafar Armstrong was solid throughout fall camp, but we didn’t see him really break out and take over. That changed during today’s practice.
