Ian Book Confident Irish Will Handle Big Game Atmosphere

Notre Dame is no stranger to hostile environments for big games over the last few seasons. The Irish have fared well winning at Michigan State, Virginia Tech, USC, but they have also dropped games at Georgia, Miami and in the Cotton Bowl. 

Quarterback Ian Book had a sense of excitement in his voice for the chance to play at Michigan Stadium on Saturday night. 

“We’re super excited,” said Book. “I’ve never been down to Michigan myself, but growing up, I feel like that’s a place you dream of playing. It’s going to be a lot of people, loud and we’re excited. We want to get a big win on the road. It’s big or us. You can tell everyone is extremely pumped up, excited and confident.”

Notre Dame handled a tough environment at Georgia well at times, but then also had moments of pure frustration. 

The silent cadence issue has been well documented since September 21st and Brian Kelly even stated the Irish started drilling it during last week’s bye. 

“Just overall really embracing all the elements,” Book said of the key of getting out of Michigan with a win. “Georgia was extremely loud and we had a couple cadence issues. We’ve fixed that. We worked on that this bye week and this week as well. Being able to embrace all those elements for some of those guys who haven’t played in huge, loud games like that – we have to find a way to calm down and have fun with it. 

“We like when it’s loud. We like when there is a lot of people there. We like when it’s primetime television. That’s why we come to Notre Dame.” 

The Irish have practiced with loud crowd noise as usual and while annoying, Book and his teammates know it’s needed to make sure they are prepared for everything they could face at The Big House.

“It definitely gets repetitive, but it gets to be like white noise where you can’t hear it,” explained Book. “That’s the point. It’s got to get you ready for it. That’s what’s necessary to be prepared for Saturday night.” 

When it comes to the Michigan defense, the Wolverines give up under 300 total yards a game and will bring pressure from just about everywhere.

That’s not a bad thing as Book knows there will be plenty of chances to make big plays and the Irish need to capitalize on them as Penn State did last weekend.

“They’re extremely aggressive and bring a lot of pressure,” Book said. “They have a lot of man-to-on and one-on-one. That’s up to us to make the big play when it’s needed. That’s how you win big games. 

“I trust our guys to go out there and it’s up to me to deliver the ball.” 

Some are talking body blow theory as Michigan is coming off an extremely physical game while the Irish had an off week, but Book believes it will come down to executing the game plan they’ve been working on for almost two weeks. 

“The coaches have done a great job of putting us in the right positions with this week’s game plan,” stated Book. “It’s about having two weeks to focus on that game plan. It comes down to repetition – keep on working with the chemistry with receivers. Going through all the looks and film study with all the quarterbacks to dive deep into their defense to understand each play.” 

As for Book’s excitement, it’s hard not to get high on emotion when facing Michigan in Ann Arbor, but he knows he has to temper that on Saturday night.

“You always want to focus on the game,” said Book. “It’s hard not to get extremely excited when there are 110,000 people screaming. That’s why you come to Notre Dame. You have to find a way to have fun and get excited about it. You have all these people watching. It’s going to be great.

“We’ve practiced so hard. Saturday is our night to show everyone our preparation and how we do things. You have to find a way to get excited about it instead of making it a big deal.”