Notre Dame Football: Don’t Blame Ian Book for Offensive Issues

You can point a lot of fingers when it comes to why Notre Dame football was only able to muster three points in the Cotton Bowl, but don’t point any at Ian Book.

Three points.

It was an abysmal offensive showing from the Notre Dame football team. Three points. That’s all they were able to muster. That’s worse than what the biggest pessimist expected.

Now, the easiest person to point the blame at becomes the quarterback, Ian Book. The quarterback is the Admiral of the offense. He’s the one who gets put on posters. He gets credit for success, and naturally the blame for losses.

In the Cotton Bowl, Book did all he could. Don’t blame him for the offense’s woes. He didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but he was Notre Dame’s best offensive player throughout the game.

The Irish wide receivers all had quiet games, with Boykin being the loudest of the bunch. He only used his inside voice, though. I only remember hearing Finke’s name get called when he made the tackle on a Book interception. No one was able to get separation quick enough for Book to get them the ball.

They needed to get separation almost instantly, because the Clemson defensive line lived in the backfield. Book spent the game on his back, and by the second half he was feeling the ghosts of defensive ends past, present, and future. The offensive line failed the Irish offense. Dexter Williams couldn’t get going behind them either, and the Irish lost balance in a mix of desperation and inability.

Notre Dame’s offense was not helped at all by the abysmal play calling all game. This falls on Chip Long, the offensive coordinator. He didn’t find creative ways to get Williams the ball. The routes he had receivers running took too long to develop, and didn’t help them get open. They had to get open based on athleticism. When they were unable to do so, no shifts in routes were made. There was a third and long towards the end of the second quarter, on a drive where the Irish needed points, and he called a wide receiver screen. It failed. Clemson got the ball and scored — again.

All in all, Book made mistakes. He let himself feel the pressure. However, he was the best player Notre Dame had on offense all night. Do not take your frustrations out on him. There is plenty of blame to go around, and tons of people are more deserving of it than Ian Book.