Notre Dame plays game of 20 won
QB Book helps Irish extend home streak against South Florida
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Irish quarterback Ian Book just needed to stick to the routine against South Florida.
He ran for three touchdowns in the first half as seventh-ranked Notre Dame rolled to its 20th consecutive home victory, 52-0 over the Bulls on Saturday.
“I don’t need to make any superhero efforts,” said Book, who moved into third place on the Irish total-offense list ahead of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and behind former quarterbacks Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen. “Just get the ball to all our playmakers on the perimeter and let our running backs do what they’ve done the last two weeks. I didn’t need to put any big pressure on myself.”
The Irish (2-0) led 35-0 at halftime and for a second straight year posted a 52-point shutout victory for defensive coordinator Clark Lea. The Irish beat Bowling Green 52-0 last season.
“We talked all week about the standard we had set for our football team, and it’s really just a mindset for our offense,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “It was a point of emphasis, and we got off to that fast start, and obviously that set the tone for the day.”
Book, who started with three consecutive completions, capped the opening drive with a four-yard touchdown run. He is the first quarterback in Notre Dame’s modern era to run for three touchdowns in one half. He added 143 yards on 12-for-19 passing before exiting with 2:21 left in the third quarter as freshman Drew Pyne took over.
“Ian was better today — he managed the things we wanted him to do,” Kelly said.
Freshman Chris Tyree scored from a yard out about five minutes after Book’s first touchdown. It never got better for first-year coach Jeff Scott’s Bulls (1-1), who were a late addition to Notre Dame’s schedule after the Irish joined the Atlantic Coast Conference for this season in a pandemic.
“They’ve got a playoff-caliber team, and they really dominated the game from the beginning to the end,” said Scott, a former co-offensive coordinator for Dabo Swinney at Clemson. “I felt like I was playing Clemson there for the majority of the day.”
Reserve C’Bo Flemister ran for a career-best 127 yards for Notre Dame as the Irish spread the touches around. Starter Kyren Williams had 62 yards on 10 carries, and Tyree had 65 on eight.
Meanwhile, the Irish defense limited USF to 65 yards in the first half and 231 total while using three new starters.
Nine Irish players missed the game, including safety Kyle Hamilton (ankle) and wide receiver Ben Skowronek (hamstring). Notre Dame did not disclose the reasons the other seven did not play.
The Irish special teams got into the act in the third quarter with the help of a high snap over the head of USF punter Trent Schneider. When the Australian picked it up 36 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Osita Ekwonu blocked Schneider’s kick, and freshman Jordan Botelho recovered the ball as it was going into the end zone for a 45-0 lead with 3:23 left in the quarter.
South Florida couldn’t muster anything on offense in offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.’s homecoming of sorts. The son of the former Notre Dame coach, who was replaced by Kelly after the 2009 season, used two quarterbacks in the first half. USF started Jordan McCloud and replaced him with Noah Johnson, but Weis got little from either.