Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 FEBRUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI T h e d a y a f t e r N o t re Dame's 33-9 rout of Iowa State in the Camp- ing World Bowl Dec. 28, senior quarterback Ian Book announced on his Instagram page that he will return to Notre Dame for his fifth season of eligibility in 2020. The message with his action photo was succinct: "See You In 2020. Go Irish." The first Fighting Irish quar- terback to serve as a captain since Jimmy Clausen in 2009, Book is now in line to become the first three-year starter at his position since Clausen did it from 2007-09. With a performance that saw him complete 20 of 28 passes for 247 yards and one touchdown versus the Cyclones, Book moved up to 28th nationally in passing effi- ciency (149.1 rating). He finished the season with 240 completions among his 399 passes (60.2 percent) for 3,034 yards with 34 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also was second on the team in rushing with 546 yards, and paced the Irish in that department during four straight wins in November. A year earlier as a junior in 2018, Book finished 17th nationally in pass- ing efficiency with a 154.0 rating, the highest in head coach Brian Kelly's 10 seasons at Notre Dame. Furthermore, Book joins Fight- ing Irish luminaries Tony Rice, Tom Clements and Joe Theismann, along with Brandon Wimbush, whom Book supplanted as the starter in game four of the 2018 season, as the only Notre Dame quarterbacks to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in their careers. With a 20-3 career record as a starter (not including coming off the bench to rally the Irish to victory over LSU in the 2018 Citrus Bowl), Book realistically could be the first Notre Dame quarterback to win 30 games in that role. The current record of 29 wins as a starter is shared by Clements (29-5 from 1972-74), Ron Powlus (29-16-1 from 1994-97) and Brady Quinn (29-17 from 2003-06). This season Book became the first Notre Dame quarterback to pass for more than 3,000 yards and 30 touch- downs, and rush for more than 500 yards. Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts was the only other FBS quarterback to achieve that during the 2019 regular season. Book will be the first fifth- year senior quarterback return- ing as a starter for the team since Jarious Jackson in 1999. Under Kelly, all previous sig- nal-callers eligible for a fifth season became graduate trans- fers at other schools: Dayne Crist at Kansas, Andrew Hen- drix at Miami (Ohio), Everett Golson at Florida State, Malik Zaire at Florida and Wimbush at Central Florida. The offense, which needs to add one more coach, also is projected to return all five start- ers along the line, although it will lose Team MVP Chase Claypool and Chris Finke from its receiving corps. In addition, lead- ing rusher Tony Jones Jr. has opted to bypass his fifth season of eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. The wild card in the 2020 equation on offense is junior tight end Cole Kmet. He has one more year of eligi- bility remaining, but as of Dec. 31 was still weighing his options regarding an early move to the NFL. ✦ 'SEE YOU IN 2020' Quarterback Ian Book confirms he will return for a fifth year at Notre Dame For The Record(s) Entering 2020, Ian Book will have a legitimate chance to finish first or second on the Notre Dame career charts in numerous categories. Completions: Book has 500 He won't catch Brady Quinn's standard of 929, but is within in reach of No. 2 Jimmy Clausen's 695 and current Irish quarterbacks coach Tom Rees, who is third with 627. If Book matches his 240 completions from this season, he would be at 740. Passing Yards: Book has 6,118 Quinn's 11,762 won't be reached, but No. 2 Clausen with 8,148 and Rees at No. 3 with 7,670 can easily be surpassed with a healthy season and continued effectiveness. Touchdown Passes: Book has 57 He had 34 this year, and if he tosses 39 next season he will eclipse Quinn's mark of 95. The next-in-line totals of 61 (Rees) and 60 (Clausen) could be broken in the 2020 opener versus Navy. Completion Percentage: Book is at 63.45 He holds the current mark, ahead of Clausen (62.6), Kevin McDougal (62.2) and DeShone Kizer (60.8). Pass Efficiency Rating: Book is at 148.28 This ranks No. 2, behind McDougal's 156.7, and just ahead of No. 3 Kizer (147.7) and No. 4 Jarious Jackson (145.7). Rushing Yards By A QB: Book has 1,033 He should move past Nos. 2-4, which feature Brandon Wimbush (1,155), Tom Clements (1,148) and Joe Theismann (1,091) — bowl games also included for the latter two — but would need 1,017 to move past Tony Rice's 2,049. Book is in line to become the first three-year starter at quarterback for the Fighting Irish since Jimmy Clausen (2007-09). PHOTO BY JAMES GLIBERT