Book hopes to 'quiet' critics of win over Clemson facing Trevor Lawrence now

Book had success scrambling on Clemson in their 47-40 double OT win last month. (ACC photo)

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Dec 07 17:41:01 GMT-04:00 2020

Ian Book leads the No. 2-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish into a rematch with No. 3 Clemson in the Dec. 19 ACC Championship game.

His team's 47-40 double-overtime win over the Tigers has come with an asterisk or two among pundits and more around college football, as Clemson was without Trevor Lawrence and also several key players on defense. Book said in an interview with the Dan Patrick Show Monday that he's heard enough of that and he's ready to face the fellow O'Brien Award semifinalist Lawrence.

"I kind of ignored it," Book said of the critiques of their Clemson win being without Lawrence out there. "I kept saying, 'Well, Trevor Lawrence doesn't play defense.' So, it was the same for us and my job is to win, right? My job is to win as a quarterback. Whoever the 11 guys they were going to put on defense is what we were going to go against. I think it will be good that he's back and hopefully we can get those people to be quiet. Because I've heard that a lot -- just like you have."

Patrick asked Book somewhat lightheartedly what Book thought he could do better than Lawrence on the field.

"Win," Book said with a laugh. "He's pretty good at that. That was a trick question. (Patrick tell him Lawrence's record as a starter). He's got me then. Being able to scramble and keep my eyes up and keep the play live. He can do that too, but I've been doing that for a long time. That's one thing that can help us win and move the chains."

The 518 yards Notre Dame put up in the win over Clemson were the second-most surrendered by a Brent Venables defense in the last two seasons. Book threw for 310 yards and a TD and rushed for 67 more yards.

Patrick also asked Book about why he hasn't been included in the Heisman talk this season, leading an undefeated team so far.

"I'm not a 100 percent sure. There's probably a lot of reasons," he said. "One of them could be that we're at Notre Dame. You either love us or you hate us. It's one or the other. A lot of people talked about a conference. 'They can't win if they were to join a conference.' A lot of things like that -- and we were able to join a conference this year and go undefeated in it. So."