Notre Dame fans have some concern over Irish quarterback commitment Phil Jurkovec's failure to earn an invitation to The Opening finals this summer. Is their concern warranted?
Notre Dame quarterback commitment Phil Jurkovec attended The Opening Regional camp in Cleveland, Ohio earlier this month hoping to punch his ticket to the finals in Oregon later this summer.
Jurkovec fell short of his goal after a sub-par performance at the camp.
"It was good but I didn’t do as well as I wanted to,” said Jurkovec, a 6-foot-5, 205-pounder from Gibsonia, Pa. “My feet got messed up and I threw a few bad balls."
Naturally, Irish fans are concerned Jurkovec has been overrated by the scouting services.
Those concerns will exist until Jurkovec arrives in South Bend and proves he belongs.
After seeing Jurkovec in action, both in a practice setting and against one of Ohio's top high school programs, the odds are good he'll back up his lofty rating.
The reality is Jurkovec isn't the type of quarterback that is going to thrive in a camp setting. He doesn't have the big arm or the type of personality that draws attention to himself.
He also didn't have the time to prepare for the camp as he led his Pine-Richland High School basketball team to the state championship game. The deep postseason run left Jurkovec just a couple of weeks to focus on throwing the football.
Adding to his troubles is the fact a thumb injury sidelined him for nearly half of his junior football season.
Jurkovec's strengths aren't going to show up in a camp, especially one with limited opportunities to throw the football in a live setting.
He's at his best when it matters, on Friday nights.
As a sophomore and junior, Jurkovec completed 65-percent of his passes for 4,233 yards and 32 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He also rushed for 1,731 yards and 19 touchdowns with 11 100-yard games to his credit.
Put Jurkovec on the football field on a Friday night and all he does is deliver and he does it against some of the top competition in talent-rich Pennsylvania.
Fans don't want to hear about potential. They want to see it. They expect Notre Dame's football recruits to prove their worth, both on the field and in camp settings.
Jurkovec didn't earn an invitation to The Opening Finals, but that has no bearing on his ability as a football player and quarterback. That means little to the Irish fan, who expects nothing but perfection on a daily basis, but Jurkovec will have the opportunity to showcase his skills when it really matters. In the end, what he does on fall Saturdays in the future is all the fans will remember.
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