Buchner – Syndication Server

See it: Tyler Buchner’s note to Notre Dame faithful

Where will he end up?

Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] is entering the transfer portal. He hasn’t officially decided to leave Notre Dame but has obviously welcomed the idea of exploring other options after it appeared to anyone watching this past Saturday’s spring game that he had significant ground to make up in the race with Sam Hartman for the starting spot.

Buchner announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on social media Tuesday. Here is what he had to say to the Notre Dame faithful:

DEAR NOTRE DAME:

I love Notre Dame.

The people, and especially my teammates, are what makes this place special to me. I have decided to enter the transfer portal in order to explore my options, and decide what is best for my future.

After discussions with Coach Freeman, remaining at Notre Dame is thankfully an option I’m continuing to consider.

I am truly grateful to everyone for their support through this process.

Love,

TYLER BUCHNER

Buchner has completed 67 of 118 passes (56.8%) for 948 yards, six touchdowns, and eight interceptions in his two years to date at Notre Dame. He’s also run for 459 yards (5.6 ypc) and seven touchdowns.

[lawrence-related id=71893,66383]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Marcus Freeman: Notre Dame quarterback battle is still on

Is there any chance besides injury that Buchner wins this?

I’m not sure if the announcement will come this week, this month, or sometime this summer, but anyone with a functioning set of eye balls saw what Saturday’s annual Blue-Gold game said in regards to Notre Dame’s quarterback competition.

Barring injury, Sam Hartman will be the starter for 2023.

It really isn’t that hard to figure out, regardless of what spring ball looked like for both Hartman and Tyler Buchner. The two couldn’t have looked more opposite in where their games currently are Saturday.

Yet, Marcus Freeman isn’t announcing a winner in the competition.

No, I think we still have a quarterback battle. You can’t determine a winner or a loser based off one practice, practice 15. And again, you can’t base a decision off of what we view is a certain outcome. There’s a lot that goes into it.

There’s a lot that goes into a quarterback battle, but obviously the quarterback play. And so, I know just being out there, we’ve got to go back and watch the film. We’re not blocking the end, there’s some protection issues, we’re dropping balls.

We’ve got to go and look were the routes exactly precise. I’m always going to defend the quarterbacks because, as I’ve always said, that position is most like the head coach. They get praise and criticism. Everybody’s going to praise Sam for how we played today, they’re going to criticize Tyler. They both probably played pretty well.

We have to look at the film. I know the stats might not say it. But listen, both of them are tremendously talented. And we’ll go back and evaluate all 15 practices and continue to look at it as we move forward. – Marcus Freeman after Blue-Gold game

Like I’ve said throughout the spring, I’ll be flat-out stunned if Hartman isn’t starting against Navy, regardless of a somewhat slow start this spring. Freeman is going to commit just yet and that’s fine, but this not going on significantly longer is important for a variety of reasons, too.

We often overreact to the spring game because it’s our only real sample of actual play to see. Perhaps we’re doing that a bit with one shining and the other struggling, but I’ll be stunned if this competition, battle, derby, or whatever you want to call it, ends up in Buchner’s favor.

[lawrence-related id=71796,71785,71765,71783]

Notre Dame comes back to win at Virginia Tech: 5 instant takeaways

Would you have put Coan back in the game?

The cardiac kids were at it again Saturday night as No. 14 Notre Dame trailed Virginia Tech 29-21 with just under four minutes to go in regulation.

Jack Coan was a disaster in the first quarter, replaced by Tyler Buchner who gave the Irish a needed spark before sputtering and appearing to roll his ankle away from a play and being forced to exit.

Coan returned with under four minutes to lead a game-tying touchdown drive before getting the ball back and leading the Irish into range for Jonathan Doerer to hit his second game-winning field goal of the season.

It was a football game that was played and that Notre Dame won, Here are my five instant takeaways as the Irish move to 5-1:

Stop overthinking things – it’s Pyne time

Enough is enough and it’s time for a change!

It wasn’t just a drive to flip field position against Wisconsin when Notre Dame’s backs were up against it. It wasn’t just a touchdown drive against the Badgers last week that stretched the lead to 24-13 and made things a lot easier.

And it wasn’t being called upon to bail Notre Dame out in the second half against Cincinnati after Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner were both bad. Sure it was against a very good team and defense in Cincinnati but neither were effective.

5 Stars: best and worst of Notre Dame’s home loss to Cincinnati

Cincinnati athletics troll Brian Kelly extra hard after handing Irish home loss

But somehow, for the second week in a row, Notre Dame’s offense came to life when Drew Pyne entered the contest just after halftime. He immediately marched the Irish down to the Cincinnati 35, only to be replaced for a first down run by Tyler Buchner that did nothing. Without much surprise the offense sputtered the rest of the drive.

Brian Kelly wouldn’t commit to any quarterback after the game, instead stating the coaching staff has to get the position figured out. He also didn’t come out and declare Jack Coan the starter like he did after last week’s victory. I’m fairly sure he knows.

If he doesn’t something worth considering is the fact the rest of the offense has had more of a bounce in its step when Pyne is in compared to Coan or Buchner.

Perhaps one could consider that crazy thing called results and see who actually gives Notre Dame the best chance to move the football.

I have a feeling Kelly and company will make the obvious choice next week at Virginia Tech but until it’s actually official we’re still left to wonder.

No. 7 Notre Dame’s depth chart ahead of No. 8 Cincinnati

What are your initial thoughts about the showdown with Cincinnati?

No. 8 Notre Dame faced their toughest opponent to date Saturday as a fourth quarter blitz gave the Irish a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin. Things don’t get any easier this week as a No. 8 Cincinnati team with dreams of crashing the College Football Playoff party are headed to South Bend.

Here is the depth chart Notre Dame released on Monday ahead of the showdown with a few things of note.