Marcus Freeman Tyler Buchner's Return, Drew Pyne's Departure
In this story:
Bowl season is officially underway for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish begin preparing to play South Carolina in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on December 30 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman knows he'll have a different looking roster when the Irish take on the Gamecocks, and that is true under center. Notre Dame will have a different quarterback than he had in games No. 3 through 12 of the season. Junior Drew Pyne made the announcement last Friday that he was planning to enter the transfer portal and will not play in Notre Dame’s bowl game.
Freeman addressed the talk he had with Pyne last week in a Gator Bowl press conference Sunday night. The first-year head coach said he was upfront with Pyne about his desire to bring in a quarterback from the transfer portal for next season.
"We had a conversation this week,” Freeman relayed. "Myself and Drew as well as many of the other players that we have on our team in terms of our intentions. My intentions ... at certain positions, [is to] look for a transfer and I’m always looking for ways to enhance our roster.
"I always want to be up front and honest, and I was with Drew and told him that we would possibly look at taking a transfer quarterback,” Freeman continued. "I did not want him to leave, but he made the decision to enter the portal and I definitely respect his decision.”
Pyne played in 11 of Notre Dame’s 12 regular-season games, starting the last 10 games after Tyler Buchner’s shoulder injury late in the Marshall game knocked him out for the remainder of the regular season. Pyne completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,021 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions this season.
He had five starts where he completed at least 70 percent of his passes. He also had five starts where he completed 52 percent or fewer passes.
"Drew was tremendous,” Freeman said of his backup quarterback’s play this season. "You hate to see him leave and enter the portal, but as I told him in our meeting, what he’s done for our program, the ability for him to step in the end of week two versus Marshall and then throughout the season, he did a tremendous job.”
As for where Notre Dame goes now, Buchner has recovered well ahead of schedule. The surgery to the AC joint on his non-throwing shoulder was supposed to take until the middle of January to fully heal, but Freeman says Buchner has full clearance now.
"He's full go,” Freeman said of Buchner. "He’s practiced the past two days in practice.”
Buchner had been doing light work at practice in the final weeks of the regular season as well.
Freeman would not commit to any quarterback as the starter in the wake of Pyne’s departure. But he said he is getting his three remaining signal callers prepared for the Gamecocks.
"We still have three quarterbacks on the roster,” Freeman commented. "You have Tyler Buchner, Steve Angeli and Ron Powlus and all have been practicing the past two days that we practiced. Could see any of the three play. They’ll all be ready to play.”
Irish Breakdown Fans be sure to get your Notre Dame tickets from SI Tickets HERE
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook
