TMG Newsmaker of Week: Jack Coan

ND QB has fought back from adversity all season

The question of the night, indeed of the season, for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was this: QB 1 or QB II?

That generally means problems for any football coach and Kelly was no exception as he tried to get either senior graduate transfer Jack Coan or true freshman Tyler Buchner to jump start an offense that had sputtered all season, including last week's loss to Cincinnati.

So now it was desperation time (one loss at ND creates that) for the Irish as they again sputtered at Virginia Tech.

Coan started, but then was pulled for Buchner until a fourth quarter interception sent Buchner back to the Bench and Coan into the starting--if not starring--role.

This time Coan did not disappoint any ND fan or Kelly, bringing the Irish back from an 8 point fourth quarter deficit.

All Coan did was engineer two scoring drives in the final four minutes, completing 4 of his final six passes, including a 4 yard TD pass to wide receiver Avery Davis.

But ND still needed a two point conversion, which Coan provided with a short toss to wide receiver Kevin Austin. Jr.Still not enough, since the game was tied, which Coan rectified with a pair of completions, setting up kicker Jonathan Doerer for a 49-yard game winning field goal with 17 seconds left in ND's 32-29 win in Blacksburg.

For that effort, Jack Coan is TMG's Newsmaker of the Week,