QB Book leads Irish into Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald typically does not spend much time talking about his next opponent.
Then again, Fitzgerald’s next opponent typically is not No. 4 Notre Dame (8-0). So it made sense that the former linebacker rattled off statistics and issued compliments about the Fighting Irish and its quarterback, Ian Book.
“He’s 130 out of 170 for 1,481 (yards), 13 touchdowns and four picks — 162 yards rushing,” Fitzgerald told reporters this week in reference to the Notre Dame signal-caller. “He’s a stud.”
Now, it’s up to Book to live up to the hype when the Fighting Irish visit Northwestern (5-3) for a prime-time matchup Saturday in Evanston, Ill. It marks the first time since 1976 that the teams will meet at Ryan Field.
The junior signal-caller has proven to be up to the task this season. He has completed 75.2 percent of his passes, which ranks first among FBS quarterbacks.
Book is coming off a particularly strong game in which he completed 27 of 33 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns against Navy. It was his best passing total of the season, surpassing his 325-yard game at Wake Forest.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly praised offensive coordinator Chip Long for matching his scheme with the personnel.
“(Long implements) the style of offense that I wanted to employ, which included the utilization of tight ends,” Kelly said to reporters this week. “An intuitive play-caller. Somebody that could get us to throw the ball at a high percentage completion rate. Those things had avoided us.
“Having said all that, you have to have the pieces in place. I thought we had an offensive line and the tight ends in place and the wide receivers, the quarterback position had to continue to develop. Obviously we’ve struck a pretty good chord there with Ian Book. I think all the pieces are in place.
“The system is in place. We just need to be prepared each and every week to go out and do our job.”
