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‘Going To See The Best’ Of Ian Book: A Look At Notre Dame’s Quarterbacks

August camp normally ushers in an excess of practice viewing windows, video and frequent availability of Brian Kelly and players. Yet this month has featured closed practices and only a couple Zoom press conferences from Kelly as Notre Dame prepares to play a season that isn’t guaranteed to go its full length. That’s probably how it’s going to be all year, save for games.

We have to treat the Kelly training camp availabilities and roughly bi-weekly practice clips Notre Dame provides as games, and put them under a larger magnifying glass than normal. We can’t see who is taking all the first-team reps, or who might be out with an injury or a COVID-19-related absence. The Sept. 12 season-opener will be a lot more revealing than a normal first game.

There are curiosities at each position, battles to be settled and goals to accomplish that are worth talking about now, though. Here’s our best attempt to sort through them. Up first: A look at Notre Dame’s quarterbacks.

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Ian Book is the first three-year starting quarterback of Brian Kelly's tenure.
Ian Book is the first three-year starting quarterback of Brian Kelly's tenure. (Ken Ward)

Returning players: Ian Book (Gr.), Brendon Clark (R-Fr.)

Departed players: Phil Jurkovec (transfer)

Incoming players: Drew Pyne (Fr.)

Offseason developments: Jurkovec transferred to Boston College in January, leaving Clark and early enrollee Pyne as the candidates to be Book’s backup.

In Short

The only competition here is the backup job. Book is locked in, and this season is about taking himself and Notre Dame’s offense to a higher gear that statistically it is close to but at times last year felt an ocean away.

Strengths

This messy offseason with one spring practice was a convenient time for Kelly to have a three-year starting quarterback for the first time in his tenure. Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator transition was also easier than most teams who made one this year.

New playcaller Tommy Rees was elevated from quarterbacks coach, a role he held the last three years, and had a promising one-game audition in the Camping World Bowl. The relationship building and installation of an entire new offense aren’t necessary. These two have worked with each other since Book’s sophomore year. Rees understands Book’s strengths, weaknesses and his job – which he occupied seven years ago.

“I’d go into his office every day to do a meeting about football and we’ll get to talking about life,” Book said in May. “I consider him a best friend, and at the same time, a coach. He knows how to switch from being a friend to coach and, ‘Alright, it’s meeting time.’ He’ll get on me and five seconds later we’re fine.”

Their task is to sustain Book’s bowl-game and late-season success and make the bumps less frequent. There were strides from 2018 to 2019 and from early in the season to end of it. First, he became a more efficient deep-ball passer. As the season progressed, he became more confident in the pocket and comfortable letting plays develop as he sensed pressure.

He was 124-of-203 (61 percent) for 1,542 yards and threw 17 touchdowns with four interceptions in Notre Dame’s last six games. His numbers against Power Five opponents improved. In his first five games against Power Five teams, he averaged 5.7 yards per pass and completed 56 percent of his throws.

Bumping his completion percentage into the mid-60s from its 60.8 mark last year will require him to improve in on intermediate throws. Per Pro Football Focus, Book was 31-of-64 (48.4 percent) on passes that traveled between 5 and 15 yards downfield, a 13 percent drop from 2018.

Notre Dame doesn’t need Book to carry it to wins each week. The defensive infrastructure looks sound once again. The running game has upside with a veteran offensive line and a couple intriguing candidates at running back. If he leads a powerful offense anyway, the ceiling for Notre Dame feels a lot higher.

“I think he’s so much more comfortable being in the position he’s in more than anything else,” Kelly said. “He’s stronger, he’s fitter. He’s going to have a great year. There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to see the best version of Ian Book this fall.”

Questions

Book’s No. 2 man remains unresolved without Jurkovec. Clark and Pyne are the candidates, and between them, they own two games of experience and have thrown one pass. Clark may be the favorite for it after earning Notre Dame’s scout team player of the year award. In the very limited practice clips, he appears to be playing with the second-team offense, surrounded by guys expected to have a role.

“Brendon's got incredible talent,” Kelly said. “He’s got a strong arm, he's got strength, escapability, it’s just the consistency and performance. He’ll show himself really well.”

Pyne, though, isn’t buried in a hole due to seniority. Clark has only been with the program about seven months longer than him. The absence of spring practice hurt his ability to acclimate and learn the offense, which creates a barrier for him to win the job. But somewhere along the line, Pyne still made a fast impression on his head coach.

“He is so smart as a football player,” Kelly said. “Just has a great concept of the position, and he just has a command about him.”

Key Stat

27 – the number of time Book threw the ball away, per PFF. The dichotomy within that stat indicates his early struggles and later progress: all but three of those came in the first seven games.

Bold Prediction

Book’s completion rate rises to 65 percent. All that would require is bringing his intermediate completion rate halfway back to its 2018 level and bringing his throwaway count closer to one per game. That means completing those 5-to-15-yards throws in the mid-50s and delivering a few more passes in the face of pressure instead of throwing them away.

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