Just a few years ago, Notre Dame was back on the map and flirting with winning yet another National Championship in program history. In the 2018 season, the Fighting Irish went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. While they came up short, it showed that the program was back to a contending level.
Leading that team was quarterback Ian Book. A junior that season, Book didn’t start the season as the starting quarterback but he took the job over and guided Notre Dame on a special season. Book is now preparing for his final season at Notre Dame and it could be the year that he leads the team back on top.
If you’re hesitant to go all-in on Book in 2020, though, just ask those who know the position. In between games on Saturday, former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer discussed Book’s potential in 2020. Palmer thinks that Book’s experience will benefit head coach Brian Kelly.
“Notre Dame’s won at least 10 games three years in-a-row, and (Kelly)’s got a quarterback who is very, very experienced, has played in a lot of big games,” Palmer said. “I think the biggest key for Ian Book this year is his own consistency. We saw at times last year whether it was accuracy, decision-making, not getting through his progressions, taking off running too early and leaving some big plays on the field, not playing at a high level week-in and week-out. He’s going to have to do that this year.”
While Notre Dame came close last season but was just too slow out of the gates. At the end of October, the Fighting Irish were 5-2 after early losses to Georgia and Michigan. But after that, Notre Dame rattled off five-straight wins to end at 10-2 and earn a spot in the Camping World Bowl.
Book’s play throughout the season was a big reason that the Fighting Irish were able to hit the double-digit win mark. He completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,034 yards and 34 touchdowns, both of which were career-high marks. But if he wants to hit similar numbers in 2020, Book will have some challenges to overcome, according to Palmer.
“He loses his top three receivers from a season ago, so he’s going to be under a lot of pressure and he’s going to be playing against some excellent defenses,” Palmer said. “He might have to play against Clemson twice, he’s going to play against Pitt. We know Ian Book’s a winner. He’s won 20 of the 23 games he started and he led them to a College Football Playoff. But I think to guarantee that spot back, now playing in-conference, they need Ian Book to be at a high level every single week.”
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September 06, 2020 at 08:47AM
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Jesse Palmer says consistency is key for Ian Book - 247Sports
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