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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 12, 2019

Ian Book

South Bend, Indiana

Notre Dame - 30, USC - 27

Q. The last drive with a lot of like designed quarterback runs, which I don't think you guys have done a ton of this year, can you sort of walk through that possession, what you're trying to accomplish, why you felt like it worked?
IAN BOOK: Yeah, it was great play calling. They were bringing pressure off the edge, so just wanted to go take it up the middle, and the line did a good job of sorting it out. They were kind of doing some games with the line, so it's hard when you've got the quarterback draw, but it worked out perfectly and saw the end zone, and I knew I had to get it in there, so it felt really good.

Q. The offensive line tonight, of would you assess the job that they did?
IAN BOOK: Yeah, they did phenomenal. I'm super proud of those guys, and obviously can't thank those guys enough. They did a great job. Yeah, I hit the ground when I was running, so that's it. I didn't hit the ground when I was in the pocket. I can't thank them enough. They worked so hard, and they're doing great. Yeah.

Q. Just following up on that, when you start moving the football in the second quarter and you scored 17 points and I know you came out in two tight end, but really after that was it just a push of your offensive line? They have pretty good interior defensive line.
IAN BOOK: Yeah, it was really I think in the second half our tempo was really what was going well. We started to get in a rhythm, Coach Long was calling the right plays at the right time and we were getting in a rhythm, moving the ball down fast, and the running backs obviously did a great job tonight, and that goes to show you the O-line was also doing a great job. When you rush for that many yards, you can't complain.

Q. Your turnover margin has been great this year as a whole. How much is that at the forefront of what you do in avoiding the big mistake?
IAN BOOK: Very, very important. I get the ball every play, and Coach Long says it all the time, smart with the ball and no penalties, and that's going to win the game.

Yeah, I take a lot of pride in that. Gotta secure the ball at all times, get it in the right guys' hands, especially when we had that long drive where we needed to take off some time, and it's all about ball security, so the whole offense did a great job during that.

Q. Ian, when you get the ball back there on that last drive, do you look for that pressure? Do you enjoy having the eyes on you and knowing you're going to get the play calls and all that stuff?
IAN BOOK: Yeah. You know, I think -- I really felt all 11 guys were truly confident we were going to go down and score. I could feel the buzz, I could feel the energy, and I was just confident as I could be that we were going to be in the right play calls, and we just had to go out there and do it, and that's what we did.

Q. How about Tony Jones tonight? Assess his performance a little bit.
IAN BOOK: Yeah, I'm super happy for Tony. He works so hard every single day in practice and works his butt off, so he's being rewarded for that like he should be, so he's a great tool in our offense, and if he keeps doing that, it makes everything -- it opens up everything else in the passing game when he can run like that.

Q. Ian, there was a few drives in the second half that stalled, Jonathan Doerer coming in hitting clutch field goals. Where have you seen his growth since he struggled this spring to this point?
IAN BOOK: Yeah, I think just his composure. He went out there and just knew he needed to put up points for us. When we weren't able to score a touchdown we relied on him to do that. He's another guy that I see working hard every single day. He's come a long way. It's been awesome. I talked to him after the game, I just said, really proud of you, man, good job. You helped us win this game. I've seen a lot of growth in him.

Q. How do you, knock on wood, not get hurt as a quarterback doing all that scrambling on quarterback draws?
IAN BOOK: I don't have the right answer for you on that one, but it's part of the game. I consider myself a dual-threat quarterback, being able to extend the play. I put my own self at risk, but that's why I play football. Yeah, I take a lot of pride in being able to extend the play, and yeah, that's part of it. I don't really think about it.

Q. We mentioned a few drives stalled and you had to rely on Jonathan to get through. That last touchdown drive almost stalled, you had a 3rd and 10 there and you scrambled through it. Do you remember what the play was supposed to be there? I don't think that was a designed quarterback run.
IAN BOOK: No, it was not. They had it covered pretty well and I just saw the line open up pretty big with nobody there, and I knew exactly where I needed to go, needed those 10 yards, biggest 3rd down of the game. I was going to do whatever I can to get to that yard marker. But I saw it open up. I might have been able to still probably go through my progression on that play, but it opened up. I knew I could get 10 yards.

Q. You realize now you might have had a guy, but once you had those 10 yards that's all you really cared about?
IAN BOOK: Yeah, I wanted to get those 10 and move on. Obviously big 3rd down. When I saw it open up, Coach Long, he says if you see it open up like that, go take it. Let's go get the 1st down and move on.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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