Notre Dame football: Jack Coan leads the Irish to 32-29 victory at VT
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team took care of business against Virginia Tech on Saturday night, beating the Hokies 32-29 inside Lane Stadium.
It has been an up and down season for Notre Dame football and their starting quarterback, Jack Coan. The graduate transfer from Wisconsin was once again pulled from the game early on, as the offense sputtered, and for a moment in time, it looked like true freshman Tyler Buchner would take the helm of the program for the foreseeable future.
Buchner came in and led the Irish to two touchdown drives in the second quarter, throwing a touchdown, and running one in, and helping to bridge the gap between the Irish and the Hokies.
In the second half, the true freshman struggled to complete passes and would end up having to leave the game with an ankle injury, bringing Coan back into the fold. All the graduate transfer did was lead the Irish to the victory, orchestrating a 7-play/79-yard drive to pull the Irish within two points, 29-27, capping the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Austin Davis.
From there, the Irish had to get the two-point conversion, and again, Coan showed his magic, scrambling around before heaving it into the end zone and into the hands of Kevin Austin Jr.
Notre Dame football would get a stop on the next drive, and Coan would lead the team back down the field, setting up a 48-yard field goal by Jonathan Doerer. That would prove to be the difference in an incredible 32-29 victory on the road.
Notre Dame football goes into the bye week at 5-1
With the win, the Irish go into their bye week with a 5-1 record, with the home loss to Cincinnati as their only loss on the season. Notre Dame football has been nowhere near perfect this season, but this is a long season, and despite all the issues along the offensive line, and the rotating door at quarterback, this has been a successful season so far.
The season is far from over for the Irish, as they avoided defeat in this one, and will now head to their bye week on a high note. USC and UNC await after the bye week, with both games behind at home, and the Irish should be the favorites in every game they play from here on out.