NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame senior quarterback Ian Book was selected to the 2019 Walter Camp Player of Year Preseason Watch List.
Book is one of 40 players from across the country up for the nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade. The list includes 30 offensive players (16 quarterbacks, seven running backs and seven receivers/tight ends) along with 10 from the defensive side of the ball.
Book, a 2018 O’Brien Award semifinalist, took the starting reigns in the fourth game of the 2018 season. He helped the Irish rip off eight consecutive victories, complete an undefeated regular season and a berth into the College Football Playoff semifinals (Cotton Bowl). Book finished the season completing 68.2 percent (214 of 314) of his passes with 19 touchdowns and 2,628 yards. He also rushed 95 times for 280 yards and four touchdowns. He ranked eighth and 17th, respectively, in FBS completion percentage and pass efficiency. Book became the first FBS signal-caller to win his first five starts of a season with a completion percentage over 70 percent in each game since Russell Wilson at Wisconsin in 2011.
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in mid-November. The 2019 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 130 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN on Thursday, December 12. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s 53rd annual national awards banquet on January 18, 2020 in New Haven, Connecticut.