After a three-week hiatus, Notre Dame earned its third win of the season in a sloppy yet decisive 42-26 victory over Florida State.
Below are offensive and defensive observations, utilizing Pro Football Focus' advanced statistics, from Notre Dame’s performance on Saturday.
OFFENSE
Ian Book Looks Better On Intermediate Throws
One knock against Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book in the first two games of the season was his poor accuracy on intermediate passes. On throws between 10 and 20 yards downfield, he had completed just four of his 12 passes (33 percent).
While he only threw three balls of that distance against FSU, each went for a completion, which is a dramatic improvement.
Book numbers were also pretty good on throws between 0 and 10 yards, as the Fighting Irish signal-caller went 8-11. But that figure also includes a drop on a short pass (albeit, on a throw that was a little too hot) over the middle to junior wide receiver Joe Wilkins and another drop by running back Kyren Williams.
Where Books still needs to be better on throws behind the line of scrimmage. He overthrew Williams once on a screen that would have gone for a huge gain had the pass been accurate. It's vital going forward that he finishes on all of his layups.
