Notre Dame’s 31-17 win over North Carolina left Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown impressed with not only the Fighting Irish but also with starting quarterback Ian Book.
Book, who set the Notre Dame record for most consecutive passes without throwing an interception on Friday, completed 23 of 33 pass attempts for 279 yards and a score while running for another 48.
After the game, Brown showered Book with praise for his performance.
“Ian was as good tonight as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Brown said. “We couldn’t tackle him. I mean, we harassed him. We had people around him, there could have been six sacks. We could not get him on the ground. And then he made some unbelievable plays on third down. I don’t know if he’s in the Heisman race or not, but he should be. His record is 29-3, he’s fast, he’s quick, he’s accurate, he’s smart. He’s not going to do things to get his team beat. But I was so impressed with him tonight. I was impressed with him as much as any quarterback I’ve seen.” – Mack Brown after Friday’s game
Is Brown talking about this year only, I hope?
I really like Ian Book as a player. Even when he hasn’t performed well enough to win some big games I’ve been a fan of his style of play and getting as much out of his God-given talents as just about anyone in college football.
Mack Brown also coached a guy by the name of Vince Young who may not have won a Heisman but is as good of a quarterback as any college football fan has ever watched.
Is Ian Book the best player in college football? No, but he’s really stinking good as he continues to rewrite much of the Notre Dame record book.
His start to 2020 resulted in the most important thing, wins, but his lack of stat-piling is going to keep him from having a realistic chance at winning the award in a year Kyle Trask of Florida and Mac Jones of Alabama are lapping the field statistically.
That is, unless Book continues to impress and puts on the show of his life in a likely Clemson rematch at the ACC Championship Game. Then maybe he’s got a shot, but it would certainly take a ton at this point in time.
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That’s not a knock on Book whatsoever, it’s just stating a fact of where things are at in what is perhaps the strangest Heisman Trophy race we’ve ever seen.
Even with an unbeaten Fighting Irish squad, I’d still consider Book to be an incredible longshot to win, and don’t disagree with that based on his start to the year.
It may not be fair but if that same game against Clemson was played in mid-September instead of after Trask, Jones and others started stockpiling stats, how different would the narrative be?
I still think it’s one of those players’ to lose, but Book’s chances are certainly a lot more realistic in that scenario.
With Ohio State only looking as if it’ll play six games, and Trevor Lawrence missing two Clemson games, Book is in as good of a position as just about anyone to benefit from those two names coming off ballots.
Shock the world and win it or not, it’s a pretty good run for a young man who had his only other offers from only Boise State, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV and Washington State coming out of Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, California.