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The Irish are squarely in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot right now, ranked No. 4 in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Poll heading into this weekends games. With that in mind, ESPN took a look a the potential weakness for each CFP contender (Insider article).
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Anthony Treash identified quarterback as the weakness for Notre Dame, specifically Ian Book. The numbers Treash looked at didn’t paint a very good picture for the senior signal caller. So far this year Book has amassed a 59.0 passing grade from Pro Football Focus, which puts him in the lower third of all NCAA quarterbacks.
More concerning is the fact that Book “has produced more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws and ranks in the bottom five in the ACC in both negatively graded and positively graded throw rate.” Yuck.
The level of concern for Treash is high as he points out that “even with a great defense, it isn’t likely Notre Dame beats Clemson this year with Book playing the way he is.” Hate to agree with him, but it is true. Book needs to play at a much higher level in order for the Irish to knock-off big, bad Clemson.
With Book being a 5th-year senior, we all know what he is, there likely aren’t any surprises in his game that will manifest over the next two weeks as the Irish prepare to face the Tigers. Hopefully, the defense continues their stellar performances and Book can make a few plays for Notre Dame to give them a fighting chance at an upset over Clemson keeping their CFP hopes alive.