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Ian Book could finish as No. 2 passer in Notre Dame football history

By J.P. Scott

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Heading into his junior season, Ian Book is on pace to finish ahead of every Notre Dame football quarterback in history — with the exception of Brady Quinn — in all-time passing yards.

It’s tough to appreciate greatness while we’re watching it in sports. We often compare the players we watch now to legends — players who in our minds get better every day they don’t play. With some of the legendary players who have come through the Notre Dame football program, it’s pretty easy to do that with the Irish.

Heading into 2019, we need to take a long look and appreciate what Ian Book has done and what he is on pace to do.

To date, Book has 3,084 yards as a Notre Dame quarterback. That puts him 15th all-time on the Notre Dame football list. He threw for 2,628 yards in 2018. If he comes out in 2019 and only passes for 2,500 yards, he’ll move up to No. 9 on the all-time list — passing Tom Clements, Blair Kiel, Joe Montana, Terry Hanratty, Joe Theisman and Jarious Jackson — settling in right behind DeShone Kizer.

Granted, the amount of games played in a season and modern emphasis on passing skews those numbers, but there are some impressive names on that list nonetheless.

If Book decides to return for his senior season and holds down the starting job over Phil Jurkovec, He’ll be in position — with another 2,500-yard season — to move into No. 2 all-time behind Brady Quinn. Book would have over 8,000 yards. The player currently holding the No. 2 spot — Jimmy Clausen — has 8,148 yards. That’s not an unreachable number for Book.

Quinn’s mark of 11,762 is out of the question.

Sure, there’s always the chance that Ian Book lays an egg this season, which would make the calls for Jurkovec to take over under center even louder. That scenario would likely force Book to transfer and this conversation would be moot.

So far, there’s nothing we’ve seen out of Ian Book so far that leads us to believe that is a likely scenario. All we’ve seen is the red-shirt junior come up big-time time in big games with ice in his veins.

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As Notre Dame football fans, appreciate that. You’re watching one of the greatest passers in Irish history.

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