Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest RECAP, score and stats (9/23/18) | College Football Week 4

The No. 8 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0), led by quarterback Brandon Wimbush, met the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-1), led by quarterback Sam Hartman, in a Week 4 NCAA college football game on Saturday, September 22, 2018 (9/22/18) at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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Here's the AP recap:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Ian Book rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more, and No. 8 Notre Dame beat Wake Forest 56-27 on Saturday.

Book replaced Brandon Wimbush in the starting lineup and was 25 of 34 for 325 yards with touchdown passes covering 3 yards to Brock Wright and 7 yards to Chase Claypool, along with three short scoring runs.

He helped the Fighting Irish (4-0) more than double their previous season high for scoring and roll up a season-best 566 total yards, surpassing the previous high midway through the third quarter.

Before this one, Notre Dame hadn't scored more than 24 in a game, and its wins over Michigan, Ball State and Vanderbilt came by a total of 20 points.

Jafar Armstrong had touchdown runs of 1 and 30 yards, and Tony Jones Jr. added a short scoring run for the Fighting Irish, who will ride their best start since 2015 into next week's showdown with No. 7 Stanford.

Matt Colburn had a 2-yard touchdown run and Nick Sciba kicked two field goals for Wake Forest (2-2), which has lost two straight. Freshman Sam Hartman was 12 of 24 for 110 yards before he exited after taking a hard hit midway through the third.

THE TAKEAWAY

Notre Dame: So much for that quarterback controversy . It sure looks like the job belongs to Book, whose only previous start came last season in a rout of North Carolina and who led the rally that led to a victory over LSU in the Citrus Bowl. Coach Brian Kelly played it coy in the days before the game, saying both of his QBs would play. But as the points and yards kept piling up for the Irish, Wimbush never saw the field and never even took off his baseball cap.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons' defense was exposed yet again. A group susceptible to the big play gave up another handful of them at the wrong times, a list led by Armstrong's TD run and a 66-yard catch-and-run by Michael Young that set up another score. The continued inability to prevent explosive plays made it next to impossible to earn the program's first victory against a top-10 opponent since 1946.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame: Returns home to face No. 7 Stanford on Saturday.

Wake Forest: Plays host to Rice on Saturday.

Here's what you need to know:

Who: Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest

What: NCAA Football, Week 4

When: Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018

Where: BB&T Field, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Time: 12 p.m. Eastern

TV: ABC

Livestream: WatchESPN

Line: Notre Dame -7.5 (Over/under: 60.5)

There doesn't seem to be a load that Notre Dame running back Tony Jones Jr. cannot handle.

The junior shed more than 10 pounds from his 5-foot-11 frame over the summer after playing at 230 pounds during an injury-plagued 2017 season. He eliminated some snacks and unhealthy foods, took up yoga and dropped a second of his 40-yard dash time so he could share rushing duties with sophomore Jafar Armstrong and others during the preseason.

Last Saturday, Jones made his first career start and carried 17 times for a career-high 118 yards -- his first collegiate effort over 100 yards -- and led the eight-ranked Fighting Irish (3-0) with 56 more yards on two receptions in a 22-17 victory over Vanderbilt.

"I feel like I'm in high school again, getting a lot of carries, just reppin' and all that," said Jones, who had 232 rushing yards last season, including a career-high 59 yards in a 48-37 victory over Wake Forest, this weekend's opponent. "I'm a rhythm back -- I need five carries to get going."

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Jones' first five carries against the Commodores went for 55 yards, including a 19-yard run to start the game and two 14-yard efforts. That production followed a 61-yard, two-touchdown performance in Notre Dame's 24-16 victory over Ball State that left an impression on the coaching staff.

"(Jones) started to run with a demeanor and mindset that he wasn't going to be tackled," coach Brian Kelly said. "He carried that into practice. If he runs physical (and) catches the ball coming out of the backfield, he's going to be a big asset and he'll continue to be a big asset for us."

Jones, who leads the Irish with 224 yards and an average rush of 5.7 yards, doesn't mind that he's sharing carries with Armstrong, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound converted wide receiver who started the first two games, and of course with quarterback Brandon Wimbush. Against Vandy, Wimbush picked up 84 yards on 19 carries, while Armstrong had 46 yards on 11 carries as the Irish rushed for a season-high 245 yards.

"Jafar is fast and physical; I'm fast and physical," Jones said. "So pick your poison. I wouldn't worry about whoever's starting. Brandon (running) spreads the defense out a little more."

Last season with All-Americans Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey helping lead the way for running back Josh Adams, the Irish averaged 269.3 rushing yards (seventh nationally) and 6.3 per carry. This season with three linemen in new spots and Adams now with the Philadelphia Eagles, Notre Dame is averaging just 164.7 yards (76th) and 3.6 per carry.

"We're still trying to get the kinks out; to be honest, I think we'll find it real soon," said Jones, who expects the Irish to be "very balanced and very lethal."

Kelly is OK with the running back by committee.

"I think we're going to continue down that road where all three of those guys are going to have multiple carries," Kelly said. "We're only scratching the surface in terms of where we can be."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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