Notre Dame football: What the Irish offense can learn from Florida
By Brad Weiss
Notre Dame football must get Ian Book time to attack deep
In their matchup against Alabama, Florida utilized star quarterback Kyle Trask perfectly, taking what the Crimson Tide defense gave them in the short passing game, and then taking big-hitters deep. This season, Notre Dame has seen some of their key wideouts come up big on numerous occasions, including Javon McKinley, who needs to be a lot more against Alabama than he was against Clemson.
The issue with Notre Dame in the ACC title game was how much they struggled up front along the offensive line and the fact that Ian Book was running for his life all afternoon. That cannot happen against Alabama, as they showed against Florida that you can take shots deep, with Trask throwing for over 400 yards in the game.
The trio of Ben Skowronek, Avery Davis, and McKinley have to step up in this one, as there is enough talent at the wide receiver group to make plays against this Alabama defense. Of course, Alabama star cornerback Patrick Surtain II must be accounted for on every play, but with how much experience Book has, he should be able to make the right decisions if given time.
This cannot be a shootout by any means, but being vanilla on offense is going to cause this one to be a blowout in Alabama’s favor.