The number surely sounded insane to some pockets of Notre Dame fans, because it’s contrary to the narrative.
How could Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book be one of college football’s best deep-ball passers, as Sports Info Solutions recently floated on Twitter, when the talking point around his deep ball was the lack thereof?
But the stat was clear. In 2019, only four quarterbacks completed at least 50 percent of passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, with a minimum of 25 completions. Book was one. The other three: Heisman winner Joe Burrow, second-round pick Jalen Hurts and Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan, an early round prospect who averaged 10.2 yards per pass.
Book’s numbers on deep balls were 30 completions with a 50.8 completion percentage. Burrow had 44 on 56.4 percent, Hurts 30 on 50 percent and Morgan 29 on 56.9 percent.
So, yes, that’s correct: Book fared better in a meaningful advanced stat than the presumed No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence, likely top-five pick Justin Fields, top-five 2020 selection Tua Tagovailoa, freshman star Sam Howell and plenty of other notable quarterbacks. Somewhere, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees read that tweet and grinned.
“The deep ball was the thing last year,” Rees said in April. “And I think the deep ball was actually something that he improved on.”
He iss right. Yet it still might be hard to grasp for some. Another common retort would be that he compiled those stats against bad teams. A closer examination is at least warranted.
