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Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech Gameday Primer

By Mason Plummer

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 12: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish throws a pass against the USC Trojans in the first half of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 12, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 12: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish throws a pass against the USC Trojans in the first half of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 12, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame
MIAMI, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 05: Head coach Justin Fuente of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates after a touchdown with Hendon Hooker #2 against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Key Offensive Player for Virginia Tech: Hendon Hooker, QB

The sophomore quarterback has been electric for the Hokies this season and is now back and should be 100 percent to go against Notre Dame. The dual-threat QB out of North Carolina has been getting it done through the air and on the ground in his three starts so far. The Hokies are an undefeated 3-0 in Hooker’s starts.

Standing at 6’4″, 228 lbs he is a tough task to bring down and could cause problems for Clark Lea’s defense. Notre Dame has traditionally struggled against dual-threat QBs and the two legit ones it has faced this season both gave the Irish defense problems until Lea made second-half adjustments. Louisville’s Jawon Pass and Virginia’s Bryce Perkins both had monster first halves against the Irish until Lea got them ‘figured out’.

In their games against Notre Dame, Pass and Perkins stats are pretty notable. Pass went 12-27 for 134 yards through the air, with an added 16 rushes for 67 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Perkins went 30-43 for 334 yards and 2 TDs through the air, with what ended up being 16 carries for -29 yards due to the 8 sacks he took. Perkins was much more dangerous on the ground than the stats show.

Key Offensive Player for Notre Dame: Ian Book, QB

Yes, I chose both of the QBs in this game.

Ian Book could not have played much worse last week against Michigan and his play is going to determine whether or not Notre Dame can win out and finish at 10-2. Book looked afraid, tense and seemed to be seeing pre-Halloween ghosts along with Jets QB Sam Darnold.

These problems with Book have been culminating all season long and Saturday was just the tip of the iceberg. Book had plans to potentially enter the NFL after this season at Notre Dame, but at the moment it is hard to imagine too many teams taking a shot on the ND signal-caller with how he has played this season. Call it Book’s problem, call it second-year QB regression under Brian Kelly, call it how you see it, but the truth is that Book has been bad for Notre Dame and does not look like the guy that took the Irish to the College Football Playoff last season.

Against Virginia Tech today, Book needs to show that he can lead this team effectively. The Irish faithful are notorious for calling for a QB change as soon as their starter has a bad game, but they may have reason to complain this season — and the complaints are only getting louder.

Many fans are calling for backup QB Phil Jurkovec to come in and start over Book, but head coach Brian Kelly shot down those notions this past week in his presser. He stated that Book is the man going forward and I think that is the right choice. Jurkovec being thrown into the fire doesn’t do many good things for Notre Dame.

However, if Book performs like he did against Michigan today against VA Tech, there is no doubt that Brian Kelly will want to see exactly what he has in the highly-touted Phil Jurkovec.

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