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For those expecting a battle for the No. 1 quarterback job at Notre Dame this spring, it never came close to materializing.

That’s a good thing for Notre Dame football in 2019 if not an up-to-the-minute ringing endorsement of Ian Book’s heir apparent – Phil Jurkovec.

“One’s on advanced calculus and the other is still getting past algebra,” said Irish offensive coordinator Chip Long Thursday following Notre Dame’s last practice of the spring before Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game in Notre Dame Stadium.

“Phil is going to get there. It’s going to take time, just like all of them.”

Book was nowhere near ready to compete with DeShone Kizer in the spring of 2017, let alone as a freshman in the fall of 2016 after Kizer threw for 2,880 yards and 21 touchdowns a year earlier. In fact, it really wasn’t until August of 2018 that Book shined enough to give Long and Irish head coach Brian Kelly pause about who should take the opening snaps against Michigan.

After Book unseated incumbent Brandon Wimbush in late September, Book threw for nearly 2,700 yards and 19 touchdowns with just nine starts.

“I expect a lot from Ian,” Long said. “I told him, ‘Challenge it. Challenge the offense. Test it. Test your arm.’ I think he’s done a really good job of that.

“Phil has to understand the offense. Day-to-day, let’s see some type of improvement. You have to be the guy who is able to come in there and win a game, right? He had to learn the offense, take the steps. He was where Ian was when he first got here, battling every day.”

If Jurkovec’s evolution after throwing for more than 11,000 yards as a high school quarterback in Western Pennsylvania is a disappointment, then he joins a long line of hotshot quarterbacks who have needed the time to adapt to a game much more complex than the one at Pine-Richland High School in Pittsburgh.

He is by no means the exception to the rule. He also is by no means Trevor Lawrence, the great freshman phenom at Clemson who led the Tigers to the national title.

Meanwhile, Long and the Irish offense are trying to build upon an attack that flourished for the most part with Book at the controls. Book threw for at least two touchdowns in each of his eight regular-season starts while averaging 306 yards passing per game.

His Cotton Bowl clunker in a 30-3 loss to Clemson – 17-of-34 for 160 yards, an interception and no touchdowns -- coincided with a lot of less-than-scintillating performances by the Irish in Dallas that afternoon. The performance against the Tigers was a reminder of areas where Book needed to improve.

“It’s been good,” said Long of Book’s spring development. “Him and (senior wide receiver) Chase (Claypool) have had a really good chemistry, along with (fifth-year senior slot receiver) Chris (Finke).

(But) you can’t really tell in practice. I want to see it on game day. I want to see it when we’re playing elite teams.

“He’s challenging himself with his throws. He’s turned it loose. He’s had some good throws, he’s had some bad throws and he’s had some drops. You’ve got to push yourself to do that if you want to be considered an elite quarterback.”

The rap on Book – and a big reason why some had hoped for a quarterback battle this spring – was his inability to successfully deliver the deep ball to 2018 leading receiver Miles Boykin and others. Book frequently overshot his wideouts, leaving points on the field and causing Long to bemoan the lack of explosive plays in the ’18 offense.

That’s why Long has challenged Book this spring to let it fly to see just what his capabilities are when stretching the field. Head coach Brian Kelly commented last weekend that progress has been made in that area.

“Vertically throwing the football down the field with accuracy,” said Kelly when asked what he’s seen of Book this spring. “Confidence. Movement in the pocket. Ball placement on back-shoulder throws and a little bit more air – a level three-type ball.

“We felt like his (deep throws) were flat last year when he pushed it vertically. We can see it’s been a nice step for him.”

Indeed, during recent open practices to the media, Book has shown much greater accuracy on his deeper throws. Ironically, while Jurkovec has struggled with his accuracy on intermediate passes – they have a strong tendency to fishtail as they’re arriving at the receiver – his deep-ball accuracy has been very good.

“He’s been throwing a nice deep ball,” said Long of Jurkovec. “(But) for this offense or any offense to work, the quarterback has to be accurate. You have to be able to take the gift throws and hit the ones when we need it the most.

“More than anything, it’s understanding the offense, going through his progression…Once he gets confident with that, the ball will come out cleaner. He was a great quarterback in high school. I saw him throw. He’ll get it fixed.”

Two days before the Cotton Bowl in late December, Jurkovec spoke with Irish Illustrated about his first year in the program and moving forward. He admitted that there was much to learn with the significant step up in competition.

“A lot of things translated, but being at the next level, the quarterback play is a little different,” Jurkovec said. “Things tighten down. You’ve got to be more consistent, more accurate. With the speed of the game and the way the defenses disguise their coverages, you have to be quicker with everything.”

With Notre Dame’s eyes on its third straight double-digit-winning season, the focus is on Book and his veteran offensive cohorts building upon a unit that averaged 36.6 points per game with Book as the starter during the regular season.

Long expressed the belief that Jurkovec’s time would come.

“He’s a confident quarterback,” said Long of Jurkovec. “It’s just the confidence in learning a new offense and getting a whole lot of reps. I’m not worried about Phil right now. I want him to get better every single day. We can’t fall back or plateau.

“He did a nice job as a freshman quarterback. Usually, they hit that plateau halfway through spring and have a few bad practices. He hasn’t had that. It’s just the timing and the speed of the game that he has to get used to. Once he does, he’ll be fine.”

In the meantime, with Book at the controls, Notre Dame’s No. 1 offense should be just fine. In fact, even better, more explosive and more consistent than last year. At least that’s the plan.