Notre Dame football vs. Cincinnati: Offensive Grades for 2021 Week 5

Notre Dame football vs. Cincinnati: Offensive Grades for 2021 Week 5

Quarterback

How do you grade the play of three different quarterbacks? As a rule, the quarterback position isn’t a unit the way other groups are. It’s the most individual of any position on the offense. Only one quarterback plays at a time, and they can have wildly different games than one another.

For the Irish, playing three quarterbacks in Week 5 is a sign that there are major issues in the position, and it certainly showed.

Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner traded every two drives in the first half, which was clearly scheduled before the game started. Coan moved the ball down on the opening drive well enough, but he made a bad decision and threw a bad interception in the endzone.

The next drive, it was clear that he was rattled, his arm looked weak, and his accuracy abandoned him. As for Buchner, he was put in a position to fail right away, which he did. Buchner’s legs worked fine, but being hit as he threw Buchner threw a pick that set up Cincinnati’s first points. Coan came back in after that and continued to struggle, failing to move the ball at all.

The second half was Drew Pyne’s, and he was clearly the best quarterback out there. He should be the starter going forward. The ball zips out of his hand, he can run, and the offense is more effective with him on the field. He was the only one who managed to lead the Irish to any points, and they might have won had he played the whole game.

Grade= C-