“It’s going to be a fun night" - Notre Dame QB Ian Book
Notre Dame passed its first road test of the season two weeks ago as quarterback Ian Book made his first start of the 2018 season for the Irish in a 56-27 win at Wake Forest.
The stands were pretty empty in Winston-Salem (N.C.), but they won’t be on Saturday night as No. 6 Notre Dame travels to Blacksburg to take on No. 24 Virginia Tech.
Lane Stadium is known for its intense environment and Book believes the Irish will be ready for whatever Hokies crowd brings on Saturday.
“It’s something we’re really focusing on,” Book said on Wednesday evening. “We’ve had a bad taste in our mouth since Miami, and we weren’t prepared. We want to go in there and act like it’s another away game, get the W and come home.”
It’s not uncommon to walk by the Notre Dame practice fields and hear crowd noise during football season, but the noise was raised a few levels this week and included a ‘Let’s Go Hokies’ chant as well as Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ sprinkled in here and there.
The 6-foot, 203-pounder knows noise is something Notre Dame will need to communicate through, but he’s also embracing the environment as it’s one of the best in college football.
“We work on crowd noise, but we focus on running our plays and trying to eliminate all the noise at the same time,” explained Book. “We know it’s going to be loud. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be energetic and a great college football night. It will be a fun night in general.
“We don’t try to focus on anything but ourselves, our plays and our details.”
The El Dorado Hills (Calif.) native had to show patience to start for the Irish and Book has enjoyed the first two weeks of being the quarterback at Notre Dame.
“It’s a dream come true,” stated Book. “I’ve always wanted to play college football. To be able to play here has been awesome. Last Saturday was a night I’ll never forget but weeks move fast here. I got to celebrate a little with the guys and had a good time, but Sunday morning you have to switch your mindset and start thinking about Virginia Tech.”
Book’s name has been called here and there throughout his first three seasons in South Bend, and he’s prided himself on staying ready despite playing time being limited.
“I’ve been preparing like the starter since I’ve gotten here and when it’s my time, I knew it would make it that much better,” Book explained. “It would really suck not to be ready if your name was called, so I really focused on it when I got here as a freshman.”
That mindset gives Book and the Notre Dame offense confidence as they know Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster will be throwing the kitchen sink at them on Saturday.
“Virginia Tech has a great defense,” Book said. “It’s going to be a fun night. They’re going to run a lot of things, and that’s what makes it fun. We have to be smart and on our details. We have to know what they’re running. It’ll be fun to go out against some looks we may not have seen this year. I think we’ll be ready and I know all the guys are confident.”