Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
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QUARTERBACKS 48 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW QUOTABLE: HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON SENIOR IAN BOOK ASSERTING HIM- SELF AS A LEADER: "He displayed a confidence last year. He's not a vocal player but he carries himself really well. He's respected by the players. He's not going to jump in front of the group yet, nor does he have to to be seen as a leader. He's got a SWAT group which he does a great job with. By de facto, he's already a leader." Starter ★★★★ Lindy's Sports named Book one of its top 10 candidates for the 2019 Heisman Trophy, and he showed in his first sea- son as a starter he's capable of leading the Irish to the College Football Playoff. Book averaged 337.8 yards of total offense per game, racked up 23 touch - downs, won the eight regular-season games he started and led the Irish to a CFP berth. Along the way, he set a new program record by connecting on 68.15 percent of his throws, bringing balance to the offense. The question now is can Book build on his game, become more effective throwing the ball down the field and play against the elite opponents like he did against everyone else. Experience ★★★ Book owns 10 career starts and 872 career snaps, and he's in position where his experience should result in improved production. Eight of his 10 career starts have come away from home, so he's had to play in some difficult environments, including the Cotton Bowl against even - tual national champion Clemson. The concern is what happens if Book goes down, with just 10 career snaps returning to the depth chart. Injury or poor play has caused a second quarter - back to play meaningful snaps in each of Brian Kelly's previous nine seasons in South Bend, which means odds are strong someone other than Book will have to take some important snaps in 2019. Depth ★★★½ While the personnel behind Book is incredibly inexperienced, they possess plenty of talent and arm strength. This doesn't mean the production and knowledge base will not have a drop- off should Book go down, but Jurkovec and Clark combined for 15,350 passing yards and 156 passing touchdowns dur - ing their prep careers, and they added 5,009 rushing yards and 77 rushing touchdowns. Both led their teams to a state title, and both bring run-throw ability to the offense. Position coach Tommy Rees will need to work diligently and effectively to get at least one of his two young proteges ready to play. Overall Grade ★★★★ The combination of Book's experi- ence, production and precise passing with the arm talent and athleticism of the young backups puts Notre Dame in good position. Book is poised to become one of the nation's top passers, and the Irish are counting on him to take a veteran of - fense to greater heights in 2019. His ac- curacy, confidence, running ability and swagger are ideal for the position, but he must play like a veteran this fall and improve his overall game. With the defense starting the season inexperienced up the middle on the first two levels, the offense might have to carry the load early, and Book opening up hot will be crucial to making that happen. BY THE NUMBERS 5 Former Notre Dame quarter- backs the past seven years who used their fifth season of eligibility as a graduate transfer elsewhere: Dayne Crist at Kansas in 2012, Andrew Hendrix at Miami (Ohio) in 2014, Everett Golson at Florida State in 2015, Malik Zaire at Florida in 2016 and Brandon Wimbush this year at Central Florida. Current se- nior Ian Book also is eligible for a fifth season in 2020. 66 Yards was the longest of the six pass that netted more than 40 yards among the 268 completions by the Fighting Irish in 2018. That was a screen to wide receiver Mi- chael Young at Wake Forest. The longest scoring pass also began as a short flip, 51 yards to running back Tony Jones Jr. at USC. 280 Rushing yards by Book last sea- son, (he has 486 in his career). His mobility, sense of pocket pressure and ability to extend the play were underrated assets in his game. In each of the last five seasons since 2014, the quarterback position at Notre Dame has produced a mini- mum of 470 yards rushing. PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern Third-year quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees was 23-8 as a starter for head coach Brian Kelly from 2010-13. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL