With Notre Dame QB1 Tyler Buchner now out for the remainder of the season, things have gone from bad to worse for the Fighting Irish. Beginning the season ranked #5 in the national polls and possessing decent College Football Playoff odds, they are now 0-2, unranked and completely lacking in any CFP prospects.
Losing to an unranked Marshall team in the home opener, Notre Dame had a terrible enough week two as it was. There was more pain on Monday, when it was announced by first year head coach Marcus Freeman that Buchner would elect to have shoulder surgery, to repair his injured non-throwing shoulder, and thus be sidelined for four months.
If you’re going to do some wagering, like you would at lord of the ocean online, then you’ll find Notre Dame -10.5 at home against California this week. Actually, they’ll be favored in most of their games, the rest of the way, except for the trio of clashes they have left against nationally ranked opponents. They’ll welcome in #12 BYU on Oct. 8, #5 Clemson on Nov. 5 and visit #7 USC to end the season on Nov. 26.
Really don’t like their prospects, especially now since they’ll play the rest of the slate with a QB2, in any of those games.
At 0-2, and with those three very difficult match-ups left on the docket, reaching 7-5 will be a difficult task.
Freeman articulated who will be in charge of leading the team, on the field, the rest of the way.
“We can all do the math and probably put it somewhere, maybe January,” Freeman said at his weekly presser.
“So, that’s where we’re at with that. Moving forward, Drew Pyne will be our starter, and as I said when we addressed the quarterback competition in fall camp I had the utmost confidence in both of those guys being able to lead our offense and lead this football team.”
Tyler Buchner ends his 2022 season 28 of 50 passing for 378 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Pyne, having seen spot action this year as well as the previous two, is 30-39 passing for 256 yards, three TD passes and one interception.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.