Bagpipe Monday: Is Ian Book one of the GREAT Notre Dame quarterbacks of all-time?

Welcome back to another Bagpipe Monday on One Foot Down! Friends, one of the fun things about having a podcast with a couple of pals is that we go all over the map with our discussion about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In our preview for the Clemson Tigers, Brendan and I came to the conclusion that Ian Book would become one of the all-time great quarterbacks with a win over the #1 team in the country. Brendan used the phrase “Rick Mirer category” and it seemed pretty accurate.

@phillykelly

And then it happened — Notre Dame won, and Ian Book not only had a 300 yard performance, but he led the Irish on a 91 yard drive with 1:48 left on the clock to tie the game to send it to overtime where the Irish eventually won the game 47-40.

We never did rank Notre Dame’s quarterbacks in terms of their greatness, but one of the statements we caught some heat for was about Brady Quinn. With this win, we believe Book has passed Quinn on whatever ranking you want to come up with. Book is, essentially, on a whole different level.

For the record, I believe Jimmy Clausen was the best quarterback Notre Dame has ever had and was a victim of being on poor teams — but even I have to place Ian Book over Clausen as well as Quinn on the “greatness” thing.

This was the win that Brian Kelly and Ian Book both needed to validate so much of what they have accomplished in South Bend. There is still a lot of college football to be played, but the Irish are in great shape for both an ACC Championship game and a place at the college football playoff. Having that bag of bricks off of the backs of both of those guys BEFORE those possible opportunities is a really great thing.

But I digress... Do you think Ian Book is one of the all-time GREAT quarterbacks at ND? Go validate your vote in the comments below.

Staying medieval AF with a greatest hits spot:

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