Notre Dame football: Ben Skowronek has revived the Irish offense

The Notre Dame football team is getting incredible production from wideout BenSkowronek, who has helped revive the offense.

If you listen to any broadcast of the Notre Dame football team this season, regardless of network or crew, you will likely have heard the story about how Ben Skowronek went to California this past offseason to practice with Ian Book. After all, the grad transfer from Northwestern is only going to have one chance to make his mark at Notre Dame, assuming he doesn’t use his free season of eligibility.

Of course, how much effort Skowronek put in over the offseason didn’t matter when he injured his hamstring early in the season opener against Duke.

For the first couple of games, it was as if no one remembered Skowronek was on the team in those early weeks, which makes enough sense. This is his first season at Notre Dame, and most fans had no reason to know who he was, to begin with.

Besides, the offense was so bad to start the season, particularly in the passing game, that fans got tunnel vision for Book. Everything was Book’s fault. He was the one who couldn’t throw deep, didn’t feel comfortable, couldn’t find an open receiver, and was overly cautious.

Of course, a lot of Book’s issues could be traced directly back to his lack of weapons to throw the ball to. Last season, when Book dominated teams statistically, he had Chase Claypool. The season before, when the Irish made the College Football Playoff, he had Miles Boykin.

Essentially, they were without a receiver who Book could trust to be open and bail him out of a tough situation when needed. For the most part, he hasn’t had that this season, which was particularly noticeable when Skowronek was on the mend.

Skowronek to the rescue

When Skowronek returned to action, save for a brief acclimation period against Louisville, he offered a major threat in the passing game for the first time. He broke out, and so did the offense against Pitt. Yes, he only had two catches, but he had two touchdowns too.

He became the option that Book hadn’t had all season long, and also a reliable wideout he could throw the ball to, if either he needed to be bailed out or to take a shot downfield. He also needs to be given more attention than most other receivers do, meaning guys like Javon McKinley can get one-on-one deep shots.

It’s no mistake that Book and the Notre Dame offense have taken off as Ben Skowronek has gotten healthy. They’re a much bigger threat with him on the field, because he opens the game up for them. He’s going to need to keep coming up big if Notre Dame wants to win the ACC Championship Game or a College Football Playoff game.