Tied at 23 late in a third quarter that had been dominated by Clemson after Notre Dame’s fast start, Ian Book bolted inside the Clemson ten and appeared to heading to the end zone and to be putting the Irish back in front.
Instead the ball was fumbled and recovered by Clemson for a touchback.
With how the half had gone, seeing Clemson score 13 straight to tie things up, it felt like air had been let out of the Irish.
But that’s when Brian Kelly went and spoke to his quarterback and told him exactly what was about to happen.
“He came to me and said you’re going to win this game and I 100% believed him” – Ian Book
Those words helped weather the storm for both Book and the Irish as a quarter later it would be Book leading Notre Dame on a 91 yard scoring drive with under two minutes to play that sent the game to overtime.
Book finished the night with 310 passing yards and one pass, the game-tying touchdown to Avery Davis on that drive at the end of regulation.
His legs came up huge again with 68 yards rushing on the night in what was easily his best showing against a quality opponent.
The win was Book’s 27th in his career at Notre Dame which moves him within two of all-time leaders Tom Clements, Ron Powlus and Brady Quinn who all won 29 of their starts.
Three more wins would make Book the first quarterback in Notre Dame history to start 30 Irish victories, but I’m certain he’s thinking about a number bigger than that and a different kind of title after knocking off No. 1.