Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Top Player Performances

What a game. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish offense carried them to a 56-27 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. It was wonderful to watch. So many guys on offense touched the ball and made plays. It was shocking to see how bad Wake Forest looked on defense. They looked lost and were missing tackles left and right. Just zero fundamentals from the Demon Deacons. I credit the Notre Dame players and coaches for taking advantage of an obvious weakness. On to the player performances:

Ian Book

How could you start anywhere else? He played a fantastic game and showed off his strengths. He is a very accurate passer 15 yards and in. Book was making plays with his legs too. He is not Brandon Wimbush running, but is definitely above average. His final stat line was 25-34 for 326 yards and 5 total touchdowns. Yes, I know Wake Forest played some of the worst pass defense college football has ever seen. But this is why Brian Kelly made the switch. Book’s strength is precision passing and Wake’s weakness was defending it. Credit goes to the Irish coaching staff for using the strengths of all their players.

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Alize Mack

He might be the happiest guy in the world to see Ian Book at quarterback. Mack thrives in crossing patterns and making touch catches in traffic over the middle of the field. That plays right into Ian Book’s repertoire. Alize Mack finished the game with 6 catches for 61 yards. Also, people do not talk about how good of a blocker Mack has become. He is turning into a complete football player. Mack has crazy potential and it is starting to show.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Julian Okwara

About two years ago, the defensive line play was easily the weakest spot on the team. Now? It might be the strongest unit on the team. Partly due to the emergence of Julian Okwara. He seems to be in the backfield on every third down. Okwara’s final stat line was 1 sack and 3.5 tackles for a loss. He is a pass rush specialist. Plain and simple, Okwara knows how to get after the quarterback. Even when he’s not sacking the quarterback, he is collapsing the pocket and causing havoc. Exactly what you want a pass rusher to do.

Moving Forward

If you take a look at Notre Dame’s schedule, it is safe to say that Stanford is the toughest matchup. Virginia Tech just lost by two touchdowns to Old Dominion. Pittsburgh lost to previously winless North Carolina. The rest of the Irish opponents seem to be getting worse every week.

Stanford comes to Notre Dame Stadium with a 4-0 record this week. Buckle up, I think we will be in for a good one.