Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 MAY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T here have been at least two patterns at quarterback in head coach Brian Kelly's first nine seasons at Notre Dame. One, the backups have had a ten- dency to steal the show in the Blue-Gold Game. Either that, or whatever positive or negative occurs to them in that end- of-spring scrimmage becomes the op- posite that following season. Two, for whatever reasons, the sec- ond year as a starting quarterback has been a jinx. This spring, senior starter Ian Book and sophomore backup Phil Jurkovec just might be going against the grain. But first, a little history: • In Kelly's first season, the stand- out in the Blue-Gold Game was re- serve walk-on Nate Montana, whose 18 completions for 223 yards with 3 touch- downs helped beat starter Dayne Crist, 27-19. • A year later, Andrew Hendrix was the best among the four QB prospects in the spring game when he had the top passing numbers and also ran for 15- and 10-yard touchdowns, while leading his team to a 17-14 win. • In 2014, backup Malik Zaire made numerous jaw-dropping throws and finished 18-of-27 passing for 292 yards with 2 touchdowns, while starter Ever- ett Golson was a more ho-hum 13-of-23 passing for 160 yards on the losing side. • In 2015, it was not so much about who did what, but who didn't do any- thing. While Golson-Zaire continued their battle for the starting spot, soph- omore-to-be DeShone Kizer clearly established himself as transfer mate- rial. He was 1-of-5 passing for 3 yards in the game and began to seriously assess whether he should take up pitching in baseball instead. So, naturally … it's Kizer who statisti- cally had the greatest sophomore year ever by a Notre Dame quarterback that fall, including the sixth-highest pass efficiency rating overall in a campaign. A year later, he would become a second- round draft pick. • In 2017, Brandon Wimbush was the clear, anointed starter, while less her- alded three-star recruit Book was the definite backup. But it was Book's team that defeated Wimbush's 27-14, with the rising sophomore completing 17 of 22 passes for 277 yards with 1 score, whereas Wimbush tossed 2 intercep- tions and was "touch-sacked" seven times. Part two of "the patterns" is that Year 2 as a starting quarterback has not been a boon time. Crist lost his starting position by game one in 2011, and then 2011 starter Tommy Rees in turn was supplanted in 2012 by Everett Golson — who then was ineligible in 2013. When Golson did return in 2014, he struggled the final month and saw Zaire start ahead of him in the Music City Bowl victory, which helped prompt Golson to become a graduate transfer at Florida State in 2015. Kizer then had to take over for an injured Zaire by Game 2 in 2015 and was marvelous — only to experience a dreadful 4-8 season in Year 2 (2016). Wimbush was the anointed new starter in 2017 and led the offense to 41.3 points per game during an 8-1 start, but by the fourth game in Year 2 (2018), Book replaced him as the starter, prompting Wimbush to be a graduate transfer at Central Florida this year. Thus, "the patterns" in 2019 were clear: Jurkovec was going to dominate the Blue-Gold Game, and then Book — following a sterling debut in 2018 — would falter in Year 2 as the starter. Then again, maybe not. Book starred in the Blue-Gold Game against mostly the top defense, while Jurkovec strug- gled — about as badly as Kizer in 2015. "One's on advanced calculus, the other one is still getting past algebra right now," third-year Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Chip Long said two days before the Blue-Gold Game. "Phil's going to be a great player, but it's going to take time, just like with all of them … Ian's been doing it for three years. "He knows the offense really well. He's brought really good, steady leader- ship. He's not a vocal guy, but he walks with great confidence, and you can see that with his play." Book was challenged throughout the spring by Long to test his arm more downfield to help raise the offense to "next level" status. Overall, Long has been encouraged by the progress there, but remains a realist. "You can't really tell in practice — I want to see it on game day," Long said. "I want to see it when we're playing elite teams. But [Book's] challenging himself. "There hasn't been a fear. He's turned it loose, had some good throws, had some bad throws, had some drops. But you've got to push yourself to do that to be considered an elite quarterback." With the more heralded Jurkovec, it's about honing his accuracy and getting his mind right. "I'm not worried about Phil. … It's just the timing and the speed of the game he has to get used to," Long said. One way or another, patterns can be broken for the better. ✦ BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ MAY 2019 Breaking 'The Patterns' At Quarterback EDITOR'S NOTE: The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football, and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to provide his wis- dom and unique perspective from his more than 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication. In 2019, senior Ian Book faced the challenge of building on his strong debut as Notre Dame's starting quarterback and stringing together con- secutive successful seasons. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER