Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 DEC. 5, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IAN BOOK SPREADS BALL AROUND Early in the 2020 season, Notre Dame struggled to work to get its wide receivers involved with the passing game. For instance, in the season opener against Duke, only three Fighting Irish wideouts re- corded a reception. Instead, it was the tight ends and the running backs who received the majority of the tar- gets from fifth-year senior quarter- back Ian Book. As the season has worn on, Notre Dame has engaged more and more pass catchers, and the 31-17 win over North Carolina was the peak. Book hit a season-high nine different skill players for 279 yards through the air, targeting six of them at least three times. The leading receiver for Notre Dame was fifth-year senior Javon McKinley, who had 135 yards on six receptions, notably the two longest pass plays for the Irish with catches of 43 and 53 yards. But after the game, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was just as impressed with a pair of other McKinley grabs. "He had two really key plays that he made tight-roping the sideline," Kelly said. "And then if you add a third where he just makes a play out of nothing. He can do a little bit of everything for us, whether it's a drive route coming across the field, whether it's down the field or timing routes on the sideline. "We've got a guy that can do a lot for us. As that continues to grow, Ian Book is looking for a guy like that." Freshman tight end Michael Mayer continues to be a major weapon and caught four passes for 54 yards. More importantly, three of those receptions resulted in third-down conversions. Sophomore running back Kyren Williams also totaled four catches for 20 yards and had the game's lone receiving touchdown. "Everybody's contributing," Kelly said. "Everybody's got a piece of this. Everybody is excited about where we are." NEXT MAN IN After Notre Dame's 45-31 win at Boston College Nov. 14, the Irish coaching staff received unfortunate news: starting center Jarrett Patterson would be out for the remainder of the 2020 season with a foot injury. The following weekend, starting right guard Tommy Kraemer went under the knife for an emergency ap- pendectomy, which meant the Notre Dame offensive line, perhaps the team's best unit, would be without two starters against a top-20 program in North Carolina. Their replacements were sophomore Zeke Correll at center and senior Josh Lugg at right guard, both of whom were former Rivals250 high school prospects. Lugg, however, came into the game with significantly more play- ing experience after starting the final five games in 2019 at right tackle. Both players performed admira- bly against the Tar Heels and the offensive line continued to be one of the team's most impressive units. Against an athletic North Carolina defense, Notre Dame still ran for 199 yards and allowed only two sacks. Correll did have a few poor snaps that hit the turf, but for the most part the 295-pound center did well in his first collegiate start. "We believe in Zeke," head coach Brian Kelly said. "Here's a kid that's just been waiting for his opportunity, a highly recruited player. We've got great trust in him." Late in the second quarter, the Irish also had to replace one of their best defenders in Kyle Hamilton after the NORTH CAROLINA GAME NOTES BY ANDREW MENTOCK AND PATRICK ENGEL Junior tight end George Takacs was one of a season-high nine Fighting Irish players to catch a pass against North Carolina. PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLETT, THE NEWS & OBSERVER