Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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QUARTERBACKS 46 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Starter ★★★★ For all the heat Irish fifth-year senior Ian Book took dur- ing his first two years as the Notre Dame starting quar- terback — mostly for an inability to win marquee games — he'll likely leave as one of the best in program history. With 6,118 passing yards, Book enters this season al - ready sixth all time on the Irish career yardage list. And barring injury or some other unforeseen circumstances, he should end his career as the No. 2 passer in Notre Dame history, trailing only Brady Quinn (11,762). Book's 57 career touchdown passes rank him fourth all time and situate him within striking distance of eclipsing Quinn's career mark of 95. Experience ★★★★½ Book enters this season with a 20-3 record as a starter and facing a schedule that could provide him at least an- other 10 wins, so he has seen it all with more to come. Ten more wins this season for Book as the Irish starter would give him 30 for his career, which would break the career record of 29 shared by Tom Clements, Ron Powlus and Brady Quinn. Book will also be the first quarterback to start three consecutive seasons during Brian Kelly's 10 years at Notre Dame, a fine luxury for any college head coach. When named the starter early during the 2018 cam - paign, Book won all eight of his regular-season games and led Notre Dame to a place in the College Football Playoff. He set a single-season record that year with a comple - tion percentage of 68.2. With the likelihood that Book will play in 13 games this season, he would finish his career with 48 appearances, one short of the record 49 Quinn logged. The concern is that if Book goes down, sophomore Brendon Clark and/or freshman Drew Pyne will be asked to fill in. Clark appeared in three games last sea - son during slim mop-up duty. That's it. Depth ★★½ Clark and Pyne have extremely slim to zero experi- ence behind the veteran starter. That said, Notre Dame offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees raved this preseason about both of Book's understud - ies, not uncommon among coaches. Rees called Clark one of the most committed and ded- icated players he has ever been around when it comes to chasing improvement, then praised Pyne's ability to "get it" at such a young age when it comes to learning the subtleties and objectives of a college offense. Overall Grade ★★★★ With two years as a starter already, Book's talent, time and success pushes this grade up. Consider the advantage that Rees, the other Irish of - fensive coaches and the entire Notre Dame team might hold having one of the most experienced quarterbacks in program history returning during such a strange time after essentially losing all of spring ball and summer workouts because of the coronavirus pandemic. Book's ability to hit the ground running when the time comes could help lift the Irish offense to one of the best in the country. BY THE NUMBERS 0 0 Quarterbacks in head coach Brian Kelly's first 10 seasons who started every game in back-to-back seasons: DeShone Kizer in 2015-16 was close with 23 straight. In 2020, 23-game starter Book (with a streak of 16 in a row) will attempt to become the first. The lone quarterbacks on Notre Dame's 2020 slate with at least 20 starts are Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Pitt's Kenny Pickett. 4 Straight games last November in which Book led the team in rushing: Virginia Tech (50 yards), Duke (139), Navy (31) and Boston College (66). His 546 rushing yards were the second most on the team, and the fourth most ever by a Notre Dame quarterback in one season. The five returning scholarship running backs for the Irish from 2019 combined for 524 rushing yards, with Jahmir Smith's 180 the most. 24 24 National ranking of Book last season in passing efficiency (149.1 rating), which dropped from his No. 17 placement (154.0 rating) in 2018 that was the highest in the Kelly era. Incoming freshman Drew Pyne led New Canaan (Conn.) High School to a pair of state titles and ac- counted for 32 touchdowns as a senior. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern