At about 9:13 in his postgame here, he said that he was really impressed with Book. Brown was effusive in his praise.

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Wanted to give ND's signal caller some more love this week following the victory Saturday. Not that anybody needs a reminder, but here are Ian's game-sealing or game-winning plays/drives over the past 2.5 seasons. These are full games on YouTube but they're set to start at the particular play or drive so you don't have to go find it.

ND vs. LSU 2018 Citrus Bowl:
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ND vs. Pitt 2018:
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ND vs. Northwestern 2018:
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ND vs. USC 2018:
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ND vs. USC 2019:
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ND vs. VT 2019:
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ND vs. Clemson 2020:
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And the Pac 12 is now out of the CFP

He has to start the rest of the season correct?

We had two OL out and rushed for 200 yards on the road and had almost 500 yards offense. We’re there a couple misses yes but it was overall good

beating Michigan St in basketball today?

Not a particular good one with a 9-8-1 record, and only 1-7 since 1963.

Bronze Medal, 1959: Joe Kuharich's first season as head coach ends with a 16-6 upset of No. 7 USC at home for a 5-5 finish — and, believe it or not, a No. 17 finish in the AP poll. Fullback Gerry Gray scored both touchdowns for the Irish and also recorded a safety on a kickoff.
Watch this video at the 2:44 mark as Gray records the safety while USC's return man pulls a Roy Riegels backward run toward his own end zone.
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Silver Medal, 1992: Despite a flu outbreak that especially had tailback Reggie Brooks heaving on the sidelines, Brooks romps for 227 yards on 19 carries and scores of 55, 44 and 12 yards in No. 5 Notre Dame's 31-23 win at No. 19 USC, their 10th straight conquest of the Trojans. The 55-yard run is one the greatest I've ever seen at Notre Dame in terms of sheer speed while splitting defenders in the middle.
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Gold Medal, 1953: The undefeated and No. 2-ranked Irish crush USC in the Coliseum 48-14. Joe Heap returned the opening kickoff for a 94-yard touchdown, and Heisman winner John Lattner has a career high 174 yards rushing on 17 carries and four touchdowns, the last from 50 yards.

What’s the chances that the Fighting Khakis claim a Covid outbreak on 12/11, cancel the OSU game knocking the Bucks out of the playoffs?

Can’t decide what would be more awesome, that...or watching a 65-3 Michigan beat down.

Five-star 2022 OL target Zach Rice will be attending tomorrow’s Notre Dame vs. North Carolina game.
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Javon McKinley - he showed flashes in previous years but he sure didn’t look like he was on the trajectory to become the playmaker he is today.

Avery Davis - Same as McKinley

Kyren Williams - one of the most complete RBs ND has ever had. Incredible that this is really his first season getting the bulk of the playing time.

“He loves playing and wants to be great” - Brian Kelly

Ian Book - You could argue that Book had regressed in previous years. He’s never going to play in the NFL for any length of time or at all, but he has enough of a skill set for college football. He’s playing his best football right now.

ND’s defense - “Surprised” is too strong of a word, but there dominance is really something else. They’re not overly talented at CB or LB but the coaching staff has the whole unit playing at such a high level that it doesn’t matter. I’d be comfortable with Clark Lea being the next coach at ND with no head coaching experience.

This is not a team loaded with “5 star” players. Yet it has the “right” players, playing with confidence and swag while in position to make plays then executing at a high level. Still, I believe, the best is yet to come.

At the center of it all is Coach Kelly. This guy made changes to his personality and coaching style unlike any I have ever seen. When things start going wrong and the camera pans to the sideline now...to see him confidently keeping his composure, is huge. For me as a fan, I love it. The players benefit from it too.

The way he evolved after 2016 is also inspirational. Let’s enjoy the moment everyone. It’s a long time coming and it’s all thanks to Coach.

Sorry but they shouldn’t be in the playoffs playing 7 games against the worst schedule of any top 10 team

The PAC 12 officials calling this game late are vying for the worst crew in college football. Missed the obvious TD and the obvious offsides late in this game.

Book has the fastest back pedal when pressure comes in all of football. Amazing he doesn’t get sacked when lineman and LBs are running forward and he’s back pedaling. He has great footwork. Like crybaby said he is like a PG back there.

Some notable data from No. 2 Notre Dame's 31-17 victory over the No. 19 Tar Heels.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-north-carolina-by-the-numbers

Are they the winningest Coach/QB at ND? That’s 29 wins. How many did Rice have with Holtz? 28

I think that ND will win on Friday as I do not think North Carolina can keep ND from scoring 40+. If the Irish can hold North Carolina under 30 points, ND wins easily. However, I think that Tar Heels will score 31 or 35 on ND and will cause ND to have an uncomfortable win.

Favored by 1 point tomorrow at home against an 0-5 PSU team. And that 0-5 PSU team has a 53% chance of winning according to ESPN power index.

That is all

After a disappointing 0-2 debut last weekend at home versus Wisconsin, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and jumped to a 3-0 lead before staving off a late Wolverines rally and coming out with the 3-2 victory.

The Irish goals came from Nick Leivermann, Nate Clurman and Grant Silianoff, while sophomore goaltender Ryan Bischel made 32 saves, including 11 in the third period to secure the win in his first start of the season.

“It was a big first win for our team,” said head coach Jeff Jackson. “The fact that we got off to a good start was really important, those first couple of games we were chasing the entire time so it is a lot easier playing with the lead. I thought Ryan Bischel gave us a good game in net and then the good thing is we didn’t crumble after they scored that second goal. I thought we did a good job responding and playing pretty solid and that’s the most important thing. It’s still early in the season and I just want to get a little better every game and today was good progress.”

In the Michigan net, Strauss Mann finished with 15 saves. There was just one penalty called in the game, which Notre Dame successfully killed off early in the first period. The two teams will meet again tomorrow night to cap the series.

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Very easy to pull for. Hard for me to say this in the past but Brian Kelly and his staff have been magnificent in a tough year for any sports team to be it’s best. Made life a little more enjoyable

Even the first two drives we missed sacks and tackles that led to the scores. Once we cleaned those up we shut them down.

I was reading Stewart Mandel's Mailbag on The Athletic today. He had an interesting response to a reader's question about Dabo Swinney and Clemson's recent bitching and complaining:

To me, Dabo is a classic case of the perils of power. As his program has grown into a full-fledged dynasty over the years, he’s ascended to a place personally where he can pretty much do and say whatever he wants, because who’s going to stand up to him? I’m guessing no one in and around Clemson University has said “no” or “maybe you shouldn’t do that” to him in years. When you’re that powerful, and you basically spend every day within the walls of your own self-designed football palace (complete with putt-putt course) surrounded by people you either hired or recruited … well, you could see why the guy doesn’t much care whose feathers he ruffles.

It’s too bad. Dabo had been so darn likeable, a refreshing antidote to Nick Saban and his band of football-robot proteges. The tables have turned since the start of the pandemic, where Saban is now the calming, intellectual voice of reason to Dabo’s petulant child.