Notre Dame Football: Five things to know regarding Jurkovec transfer
By Matt Clark
Despite all of the hype surrounding Jurkovec following his recruitment and commitment to the Irish, he never managed to fulfill the promise that was expected from him. A brutal 2019 Blue and Gold game performance did nothing to help elevate his status with the team.
During the annual scrimmage, Jurkovec would complete 15 of 26 passes for only 135 yards, while being sacked an insane 12 times during the game. His poor performance left him open to criticism in regards to his ability to show progress with the team.
Jurkovec would receive very little playing time in mop-up roles during the 2019 season. However, despite occasionally showcasing some of the elite skills that made him a top high school recruit, he would also exhibit some worrisome traits that would lead to further questions about his future at Notre Dame.
Most glaring was when Brian Kelly was forced to call a timeout during a blowout of Bowling Green because Jurkovec was misreading the play-calling signals. After the game, Kelly informed the media that Jurkovec was inexplicably reading off of the incorrect play card.
After a couple of poor performances from Book led to questioning why Jurkovec wasn’t being utilized more, Brian Kelly eluded to issues that Jurkovec was having in practice regarding his ability to pick up on the Irish play calling. He also mentioned that he was dealing with issues in his throwing mechanics that were causing him to be inaccurate with his throws.
The idea that Jurkovec was not performing well in practice was amplified by the statements that he made that he had difficulty focusing in practice and scrimmages because they were not real games. In a game where practicing how you would play in games is integral to the success of a player, especially at the quarterback position, this was extremely troublesome to hear.
Jurkovec would play in five games in 2019, completing 12 of 15 passes while passing for 222 yards, rushing for 139 yards and scoring two total touchdowns on the season. While those numbers are not terrible despite being a small sample size, rumblings that freshman Brendon Clark was close to leapfrogging Jurkovec on the depth chart began to emerge.
The return of Book for 2020, Jurkovec’s struggle to consistently show positive progression, Clark’s emergence as a backup and the incoming quarterbacks from the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes certainly painted a dim picture for Jurkovec’s future in an Irish uniform, which undoubtedly played a role in why he decided to transfer.