Ian Book Isn't In The Zone, And That's A Very Good Thing For Notre Dame
No, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book isn’t on fire, or in the zone, or any of the other expressions used to explain a player that is playing beyond his normal standard or level.
Yes, his numbers have been excellent in the last month, but he isn’t a “hot” quarterback. That was obvious against North Carolina, and it became perfectly clear in the win over Syracuse.
We've seen Book on fire, and this isn't it. He was on fire against Boston College. He was on fire during his first three starts of the 2018 season. He was on fire in November of last month.
In three of the last four games, Book has absolutely not been on fire.
Book has been sloppy in the last two games, and that was especially true against Syracuse. He under threw two balls early, he was uncharacteristically inaccurate, his reads were too fast, which led to him missing open receivers and he ran into pressures. He also threw a pick on a snap where he had no idea the backside safety was playing the post.
A “red hot” quarterback doesn’t make those mistakes, and Book is not playing like a red hot quarterback.
And that is a very, very good thing for Notre Dame, and is absolutely a positive for Book.
Allow me to explain.
A “red hot” quarterback, or a quarterback that is “in the zone” is a quarterback that is playing above his normal capabilities. There is a shelf life on that level of play. It’s no different than a baseball player that is hitting over .400 for a month or a basketball player hitting over half his three-point attempts for a month. Eventually that hot period ends and the player comes back down to his normal level, but you just ride it out while it is happening.
What we are seeing from Book is something different, and the distinction is very important. We are seeing Book play at the level he’s always been capable of from an athleticism and arm talent standpoint. Yes, he’s going to make mistakes, he’s going to miss reads, he is even going to turn the ball over every now and then.
What makes this version of Book so dangerous and effective is what he showed in the last two games, and against Clemson on Nov. 7, is far more sustainable, and there are actually areas where he needs to clean up his game, and can clean up his game.
Despite those “criticisms” of his play the last two games, Book is still putting up impressive numbers, the offense is doing what it needs to do to win games, and the reason is he’s turned into a playmaker.
Being a playmaker is sustainable, it’s something that should be expected on a consistent basis, and it doesn’t depend on a quarterback “being in the zone.” A quarterback can have an "off game" and still be very productive and the offense can be dangerous.
Yesterday was a perfect example, because Book was far from clean in the game, but he still threw for 285 yards, he accounted for five touchdowns and the offense had its best yardage output of the season and tied its best points output of the season.
Did he play well? No, not really, not from a technical standpoint for the reasons I mentioned above. I would hope that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and Book are in the film room tomorrow going over all the areas where he could have done something different, or better.
But Book played in a way that makes this offense very hard to slow down for an entire game, and it makes him very hard to defend, even when he's not as sharp or accurate, or "in the zone."
When Book is making plays with his legs, when Book is being aggressive attacking downfield (even when he misses or under throws a ball or too) and when Book is willing to take risks he makes this offense very dangerous.
It makes it incredibly hard to stop the run game when Book is making those types of plays, when the offensive line is giving up more ground than it should he can overcome it and get out of trouble.
When Book is playing the way he did the last two games it makes the margin for error on offense much greater, and it gives the playmakers on the offense far more opportunities to impact the game.
When Book is a playmaker he doesn’t have to be perfect to be successful. He just has to keep battling, and for all the criticisms I’ve lobbed at Book over the years, being unwilling to battle has never been in that discussion.
If Book can continue being this kind of playmaker, and still clean up a few areas where he fell short in the last two games, the Notre Dame football team can play with, and beat anybody it might face the remainder of the season.
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