Notre Dame might not need quarterback Ian Book this week when it plays Florida State, but the Irish have much bigger dreams.
Book (rib) won't play on Saturday against the Seminoles, which caused some sportsbooks to slightly adjust the spread. Brandon Wimbush will start in his place.
Some books immediately dropped the line from Notre Dame -18 to -16 or -16.5, while sharper books like Pinnacle held steady at -17.5. As of 9 a.m. ET, most books are still offering at least -17.
Around 10 a.m. ET, the line had dropped to -16.5 market-wide before popping back up to -17.
Only a few books had pulled Notre Dame national title odds, which sit around 8-1, as of Thursday morning.
Not much has been reported about the extent of Book's injury other than that he suffered it in the second half against Northwestern last week.
Wimbush began the season as the starter and led the Irish to a win over Michigan primarily with his legs, but struggled the next few games against inferior competition to make way for Book.
Notre Dame went 1-2 against the spread (ATS) with all three games going under the total with Wimbush, and 3-2-1 ATS and 5-1 to the over with Book, according to Bet Labs.
Book has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country since taking over, completing 74.5% of his passes at 9.5 yards per attempt, which would be fifth in the nation if he had enough attempts to qualify.
The Irish have averaged 1.96 more yards per play with Book (6.91) compared to Wimbush (4.95). That's the difference between Georgia and Kansas' offenses.
