Notre Dame football: Week 4 offensive grades vs. Wisconsin

Notre Dame football: Week 4 offensive grades vs. Wisconsin

Quarterbacks

Let’s start by saying this, Drew Pyne gets an A. Jack Coan gets a C. That’s a B average.

It’s not all Jack Coan’s fault, of course. He can’t help that he’s not particularly mobile and playing behind an offensive line that has no idea what it’s doing. There are simple limitations to his game. His arm strength just isn’t there, and his accuracy is inconsistent.

None of this is news, and it showed in what should have been a chance to make Wisconsin miss him (though Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz was bad enough that most fans miss Coan).

That lack of mobility, as well as getting the ball out too slowly at times, got Coan sacked six different times. On that sixth sack, he was injured. Tyler Buchner had a slight injury and was unavailable, so Drew Pyne came into the game and he came out firing.

Pyne was able to lead the Irish up the field, had more zip on his ball than Coan, and was confident from the word go. It was great to see, and even though Brian Kelly insisted that Coan is still the starter, it makes you question why.

One fumble on a sack wasn’t Pyne’s fault, as Tosh Baker gave his man an invitation to blindside the quarterback.

Grade: B