Kelly raves about Book as Irish prepare for Hokies
It is not every day that Brian Kelly hears a question he loves.
But when a reporter asked the Notre Dame head coach what he liked about the past two starts by junior quarterback Ian Book — and what Book still could do to improve — Kelly leaped at the chance to explain his thoughts.
“Those are easy questions,” Kelly said at his weekly news conference.
It is not as easy to predict how No. 6 Notre Dame (5-0) will perform on the road in a hostile environment against No. 24 Virginia Tech (3-1) on Saturday. The Fighting Irish are perfect through five games for the first time since 2014.
The emergence of Book gives Kelly plenty of reasons to feel confident. Notre Dame has averaged 47 points per game since Book took over for embattled quarterback Brandon Wimbush two weeks ago.
The pro-style quarterback has completed 74.3 percent of his passes this season for 616 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has thrown for 603 yards and six touchdowns in his past two starts, which have led to victories over Wake Forest on the road and then-No. 7 Stanford at home.
What’s to like?
“We could be here for a long time or a short time,” Kelly said. “The short time would be I like that he wins.
“The more in-depth would be he has certainly created a confidence level amongst the entire unit. And whether it’s escapability, where he can sense the rush and that builds a confidence level with your offensive line that they know that even if they maybe don’t sustain a block, that they’re going to be OK. So I don’t have to grab or hold. Wide receivers knowing that they’re going to get the football in a position where they can run after the catch.
“I could go on and on and on. But he’s won football games.
“What can he do better? I think every single day it’s continue to prepare for the next opponent, because it’s a clean slate. So that preparation part for a quarterback is really big. And he hasn’t been at it very long. So the ability to come in each week and really lock in on that next opponent and then take what he’s learned and bring that with him. That’s a work in progress.
“So I don’t know that there’s one specific thing that we’ll be working on with him as much as making sure that he stays on track to continue to grow each day.”
