Ian Book’s legs became a weapon against Florida State
Ian Book used his ability to run with the ball and it was a factor against Florida State.
Much has been made about the performance of Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book through the first few weeks of the 2020 season, and not in a good way. Something has been missing from the 2018 run to the College Football Playoff and 2019’s statistically dominant campaign.
Whether the issue has been Book’s accuracy, tentativeness to take deep shots, or comfort in the pocket is up for debate. However, he certainly hasn’t been helped by limiting how he uses his legs in games.
Book was dominant on the ground last season, in a year where Notre Dame struggled to do much in the traditional rushing game. So, Book took over and ran for 546 yards, with sack yardage taken off in 2019. Through two games in 2020, Book had 21 yards rushing.
Against Florida State, Book’s rushing skills finally became a weapon again. He ran for 58 yards and a touchdown. There were times when he picked up yards on designed runs, and times when he was able to escape pressure and make something happen when receivers couldn’t get open downfield.
Even when he didn’t take off running to gain yards, Book used his legs to avoid pressure and still get a pass off, like when he took a deep shot to Javon McKinley. He did so without getting happy feet, and still being confident in the pocket as he surveyed the field.
It’s incredibly important that Book is able to effectively use his legs for the Irish offense. This group of wide receivers is dealing with injury issues, and even without those injuries, they’re not able to get open the way wide receivers in recent years have been able to.
So, when no one gets open Book needs to use his legs to create something, and not fall behind the sticks. The added dimension of being able to run the football will keep linebackers around the line of scrimmage, spying on Book, which will open up passing lanes for Book to throw.
This ability to run showed up in a major way during the two-minute drill, where most of the yardage Notre Dame gained on their way to the endzone came from Ian Book’s legs. Notre Dame needed to move down the field quickly, but the receivers weren’t getting as open as they needed to be. By running Book, Notre Dame was able to gain chunks of yards anyways.
Notre Dame needs Book’s running to be a threat going forward, because they will play better teams than Florida State or USF. They’ll need more than a power approach to win those games, and Book’s running could open up the whole offense.