Notre Dame QB Ian Book Named To Davey O'Brien Watch List
Notre Dame senior quarterback Ian Book has been named to yet another preseason watch list, this time finding his name on the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List, which is an annual award that goes to the nation's top quarterback.
Book led the Irish to an 8-1 record last season and was a driving force behind the team's run to the College Football Playoffs. Despite starting just nine games, Book passed for 2,628 yards, rushed for 280 yards and accounted for 23 touchdowns.
The El Dorado Hills, Calif. native set a Notre Dame single season record by completing 68.2 percent of his passes, breaking the mark set by Jimmy Clausen in 2009.
Book enters the season with a 9-1 record as a starter despite only making two starts at home.
Five Notre Dame opponents also had quarterbacks on the list: Stanford's KJ Costello, USC's JT Daniels, Georgia's Jake Fromm, Michigan's Shea Patterson and Virginia's Bryce Perkins.
The Davey O'Brien Award is named after the former TCU quarterback that went on to be a first round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1939. O'Brien was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. O'Brien was an All-Pro in each of his two NFL seasons before retiring to join the FBI.
The award became a quarterbacks-only honor in 1981. No Notre Dame quarterback has ever won the award.
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