Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1047749
20 NOV. 12, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI W ith a 9-12 record in No- vember the past five years, Notre Dame made im- provement in this month a priority since the first winter work- out in January. The November "Redemption Tour" began with a hard-fought 31-21 win at Northwestern (5-4) to keep the No. 4-ranked and 9-0 Fighting Irish in control of their own destiny for one of the four College Football Playoff spots that will be announced Dec. 2. Following a 7-7 tie at halftime, Notre Dame opened the second half with 80- and 98-yard touchdown drives, built the lead up to 24-7 early in the fourth quarter, and held off a late Northwestern charge that cut it to 24-21 by responding with an 89-yard scoring march in the closing minutes. After completing only 7 of 15 throws in the first half, junior quar- terback Ian Book and the Irish pass- ing attack found their rhythm in the final 30 minutes. Book finished 22-of-34 passing for 343 yards with two touchdowns and no intercep- tions. He also rushed 11 times for 56 yards to tie for the team lead — highlighted by his 23-yard scoring scamper that closed out the scoring — while the Irish defense limited the Wildcats to 249 total yards. For the second straight game, the first Irish series opened with a turn- over deep in their territory, but fortu- nately no points resulted from it for the opposition once again. "It's really hard to win in Novem- ber in college football, and we know that," Book said. "Two weeks in a row, starting off on the wrong foot, it takes a little momentum away, but … the team did a good job of forgetting about what happened and moving on and having that next play mentality." On a night where Northwestern prioritized shutting down the run, it was pass or fail for the Irish against a Pass Or Fail Notre Dame improves to 9-0 with second-half aerial surge fueled by Ian Book