Notre Dame Football team gears up for final home game of 2019 season

NOTRE DAME, Ind.--The 15th ranked Notre Dame Football team will play its final home game of the season on Saturday as the Irish take on Boston College.

Notre Dame has seen significant improvement in quarterback play in the last three games and that’s not a coincidence. 

Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book received a lot of criticism this season, especially after the blow-out loss to Michigan in week eight.

Since the loss, Book has found a rhythm, scoring the game-winning touchdown against Virginia Tech and following that up with four passing touchdowns against Duke and five more against Navy.

Notre Dame Football Head Coach Brian Kelly says Books has done a good job handling the pressure, but that his staff has actually made changes in the way they are coaching him.

"We've made some adjustments in practice that I think have helped Ian. Ian is getting plays from the sideline and getting it in a much more game-like fashion instead of just standing there and getting it off of a script and almost it being formulated for him,” Kelly said. “We wanted it to be one that he had to see it, digest it and then we could coach it after the fact in film study.  Because it seemed to me that he looked great in practice because he already had the answers to the test."

So far this season, Book has nearly 2,300 passing yard and 26 touchdowns.

Boston College is a favorable matchup for Book this week, going up against a young defense.

Also ahead, Notre Dame will have 28 players participate in Senior Day on Saturday.

Players like wide receiver Chase Claypool, running back Tony Jones and defensive end Khalid Kareem will be playing their final game at Notre Dame Stadium.

This class of seniors has been through a lot at Notre Dame, from the high of the undefeated regular season and playoff berth in 2018, to suffering through the 4-8 season in 2016.

Kelly says the class has learned a lot from that journey.

"They didn't seem to be benefits at the time, but they learned quite a bit from that season in terms I think of the preparation, and the locker room and all the things that are necessary to continue to build on your culture. Some of those guys are leaders today that have been able to make sure that no one takes our process for granted and that you continue to work on it everyday,” Kelly said.