Notre Dame football: How the Irish QB situation stands entering Week 3
By Ryan Shanko
The Notre Dame football team lost quarterback Tyler Buchner for the season after being injured against Marshall. Where do the Irish stand at QB now?
Just two days following Notre Dame football losing to Marshall, more bad news has broken in South Bend. Starting QB Tyler Buchner, who was injured at the end of the Marshall game, has been diagnosed with a high-grade AC joint sprain and will undergo surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, Marcus Freeman told reporters Monday.
A four-month timeline is commonly given for this type of injury, and it means Buchner will miss the rest of the regular season.
With Buchner out, the keys to the offense will be fully given to junior Drew Pyne, who saw action in spot relief of Jack Coan in 2021. With Pyne at the helm of the offense, last season the Irish saw a jolt of energy that the other QBs on the roster could not deliver, namely in last season’s Shamrock Series game win versus Wisconsin.
Pyne will be looking to recapture that energy and magic to lead the Irish for the remainder of the season. The biggest question surrounding Pyne is his ability to utilize his legs like Notre Dame likes to do so much with its QBs. Pyne is definitely more of a pocket passer, but he will have to use his legs no matter what if the offensive line continues to struggle like it has been up to this point in the season.
Where does the Notre Dame football team stand at QB?
True Freshman Steve Angeli will now take the second team reps for Notre Dame. Angeli excelled in the Blue-Gold game this spring, so hopes for him are high, but he is a true freshman, so he has much to learn in terms of the playbook. Of Angeli, Marcus Freeman said, “We have to figure out what can Steve Angeli handle and what can he be efficient with if he needs to go into the game…”. Hopefully, Angeli can continue to learn and grow his skillset on the sidelines for now, but it is important to have him prepared and ready to play should the situation arise.
Notre Dame football has help coming in CJ Carr
Notre Dame has a QB problem, that much is clear after watching the first two games of the 2022 campaign. That being said, the Irish landed a commitment from 2024 5-star QB CJ Carr in June. Carr, the grandson of legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, has begun his junior season at Saline in Michigan.
With the injury to Buchner and all the uncertainty surrounding the position in South Bend, could Carr look to reclassify to join ND’s 2023 recruiting class and try to make a push to start for Notre Dame as early as next season? He clearly possesses the natural talent to be an elite QB, so it does not remain an impossibility for this to happen.
It will be an interesting process to observe as the year goes on, but no matter what goes on, Notre Dame will be lucky to welcome Carr’s talent whenever he arrives on campus.
Following Buchner’s injury, Notre Dame has been left with more questions than answers as this young season has already seen them face more adversity than an Irish team has seen since the 4-8 2016 season.
Will the Irish bounce back and show resilience, or will this season show nothing but disappointment for Freeman and company? This Saturday’s game against Cal will tell us a lot about the fight in this ND team, and how the rest of this year will go in South Bend.