{"id":1313599,"date":"2019-08-15T14:36:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T20:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/irish-hope-to-ride-books-arm-to-second-straight-cfp-berth\/"},"modified":"2019-08-15T14:36:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T20:36:00","slug":"irish-hope-to-ride-books-arm-to-second-straight-cfp-berth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/irish-hope-to-ride-books-arm-to-second-straight-cfp-berth\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish hope to ride Book\u2019s arm to second straight CFP berth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
FILE – In this Dec. 29, 2018, file photo, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book (12) runs the ball against Clemson during the NCAA Cotton Bowl semifinal playoff football game, in Arlington, Texas. Upon his return to campus last winter, Book immediately worked on his leadership skills and also making the difficult and tight downfield passes. Book was rewarded when he was named one of the team\u2019s seven captains. (AP Photo\/Michael Ainsworth, File)<\/strong>
AP | FR171389 AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2014 For Notre Dame to reach its second straight College Football Playoff, it may have to run the table behind quarterback Ian Book.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step into being the quarterback at Notre Dame, high expectations come with it,\u201d said coach Brian Kelly, who has twice in nine seasons directed teams to 12-0 regular seasons only to come up short of delivering the school\u2019s first national title since 1988.<\/p>\n

Last season, the 6-foot, 212-pound Book completed 68.2% of his passes for 2,628 yards and 19 touchdowns while leading the Fighting Irish to the playoff, where they lost 30-3 to eventual national champion Clemson in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.<\/p>\n

Upon his return to campus last winter, Book said he immediately went to work, including on making difficult and tight downfield passes. Book was rewarded when he was named one of the team\u2019s seven captains.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to wear the \u2018C\u2019 on your chest is a big deal,\u201d Book said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to lead. We know what it takes to get to the playoff. We just have to work on the details.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly has seen the improvements in Book both as a player and leader and seen how his teammates have responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIan\u2019s personality is not one where he\u2019s going to get many speeding tickets,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThere\u2019s a confidence throughout the entire unit starting to breed, and we\u2019re seeing that because of Ian.\u201d<\/p>\n

LINE TIME<\/p>\n

Sophomore newcomer Jarrett Patterson takes over at center between four holdovers, tackle Liam Eichenberg and guard Aaron Banks to his left and guard Tommy Kraemer and tackle Robert Hainsey to his right. Experienced running backs Jafar Armstrong and Tony Jones Jr. return in the backfield, while Book has an experienced wide receiver corps with Chris Finke, Chase Claypool and Michael Young. Big things were expected from junior tight end Cole Kmet, but he suffered a broken right collarbone early in fall camp and is expected to miss anywhere from four to 10 weeks. His spot will be shared by sophomore Tommy Tremble and junior Brock Wright.<\/p>\n

BORN TO RUN<\/p>\n

Armstrong (383 yards) and Jones (392) carried the rushing load early in 2018 before injuries and the return of senior Dexter Williams from a suspension lessened their touches. Williams finished with 12 touchdowns and 995 yards in the final nine games. Expect Armstrong and Jones, who are both adept at catching passes, to lead the way again as sophomores Jahmir Smith and C\u2019Bo Flemister battle with improving freshman Kyren Williams for playing time.<\/p>\n

ON DEFENSE<\/p>\n

The Irish defensive line should be strong up front with seniors Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara and Daelin Hayes, who combined for 14.5 quarterback sacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of talent on defense and the blueprint how to get back,\u201d Kareem said.<\/p>\n

They will be good, too, in the secondary despite losing All-America cornerback Julian Love. Senior Troy Pride Jr. moves into Love\u2019s boundary spot and senior safeties Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott had 162 tackles, 12 passes defended and four forced fumbles between them.<\/p>\n

Kelly and defensive coordinator Clark Lea have been searching for the right combination at linebacker where Te\u2019von Coney and Drue Tranquill had a combined 209 tackles, including 18.5 for losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur linebacking corps has something we haven\u2019t had in a while and that\u2019s speed,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cWe have some guys who can really run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has been impressive at the rover position, allowing last year\u2019s rover, grad student Asmar Bilal, to utilize his quickness at linebacker. When Bilal lines up at the weakside spot, junior Drew White has been impressive in the middle with his physicalness to free up junior tackles Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish.<\/p>\n

Kyle Hamilton, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound safety who enrolled just before summer camp, has been the most impressive member of Notre Dame\u2019s 22-player freshman class with five interceptions in the first six preseason practices.<\/p>\n

KICK(ER)S GET HARDER TO FIND<\/p>\n

Replacing all-time leading scorer Justin Yoon (367 points on 59 of 73 field goals and 190 of 196 PATs) and punter Tyler Newsome (44-yard career average) will be key. Jay Bramblett, an early enrollee last spring, is averaging almost 40 yards per punt in practice. Junior Jonathan Doerer, who was inconsistent with his kickoffs last fall and this spring as the only placekicker, is battling newcomer Harrison Leonard to succeed Yoon.<\/p>\n

ABOUT THAT SCHEDULE<\/p>\n

A Labor Day night game at Louisville opens the season. It is one of five road games: Georgia (Sept. 21), Michigan (Oct. 26), Duke (Nov. 9) and the regular-season finale at Stanford (No. 30). The home slate includes Virginia, Virginia Tech, Navy and Southern Cal on Oct. 12. Bob Davie, who coached the Irish from 1997-2001, brings his New Mexico team to South Bend on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this Dec. 29, 2018, file photo, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book (12) runs the ball against Clemson during the NCAA Cotton Bowl semifinal playoff football game, in Arlington, Texas. Upon his return to campus last winter, Book immediately worked on his leadership skills and also making the difficult and tight downfield passes. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1313599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-07 06:56:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}