Who saw this coming?

It wasn’t long ago Jack Coan threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame’s 41-38 overtime victory at Florida State in its season opener. The graduate student looked like a genius for leaving Wisconsin and settling in at Notre Dame. He popped up on the first page of Heisman Trophy odds lists and was a popular talking point on national sports talk shows.

But it has been all downhill from there. Literally.

Coan’s passing yardage total has decreased in every game throughout the season. He just put forth a season-low mark of 108 against Virginia Tech. Most of those came after he was benched for a true freshman only to reassume his QB1 status in time to lead a comeback victory for the Fighting Irish.

A lot to process, yeah? Don’t worry. There’s more. A lot more.

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Notre Dame has used multiple quarterbacks in five of six games, the only outlier being Coan’s prolific passing performance against Florida State in week one. Head coach Brian Kelly has had to relieve Coan of his duties — temporarily or permanently — for one reason or another in all five of the Irish’s most recent games.

Six days after Coan put the college football landscape on notice in prime time against the Seminoles, he shared snaps with true freshman Tyler Buchner against — wait for it — Toledo, of all opponents, in the Irish’s home opener Sept. 11.

Coan played 62 snaps to Buchner’s 19. The Notre Dame offense produced 14 points with Buchner in the game for less than 20 snaps, though, and 18 with Coan in the game for more than 60.

The birth of Buchner as a go-to offensive option for the Irish was the result of two straight three-and-outs against the Rockets with Coan. In the span of four plays, Coan took a seven-yard sack to end one series and threw three-straight incomplete passes to totally derail another.

Buchner was given the keys to the Notre Dame offense on the ensuing possession, and the Irish went 96 yards in five plays to score a touchdown. Buchner had 37 rushing yards and 15 passing yards on the drive. He finished the game with 68 rushing yards and 78 passing yards with a touchdown threw the air.

Still, it was Coan who engineered the game-winning 75-yard touchdown drive in 26 seconds to give Notre Dame its second win of the season. He accounted for 58 yards through the air, 18 of which came on a touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Michael Mayer.

Notre Dame gained six yards on its first 10 plays against Purdue in week three. Insert Buchner. He gained five yards on his first snap of the game, nearly matching what it took Coan to generate in 10 tries.

From there, though, Notre Dame netted a total of two yards on back-to-back rushes from sophomore running back Chris Tyree. In came Coan for an attempt at converting on fourth-and-three, and he rifled a 43-yard touchdown on a precise slant route to junior running back Kyren Williams.

Buchner only played five snaps the rest of the game, the most notable of which was a 20-yard run on third and 16 from the Notre Dame 5-yard line. He gave the Irish some breathing room just before halftime and prevented Purdue from having a chance to tie the game. A hamstring injury kept him out of the game in the second half.

Coan played the rest of the way. He threw for 223 yards, but the Boilermakers out-gained the Irish in total yards 348-343. Three weeks into the season, it had become quite clear Notre Dame could not sustain a high level of offense with Coan as the lone signal-caller. It became increasingly obvious the following week at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Notre Dame went three-and-out on five of its first eight drives with Coan leading the offense against Wisconsin. His ultimate undoing in the game was an ankle injury he suffered on a sack early in the second half.

Sophomore Drew Pyne entered the game with Buchner still banged up with his hamstring injury. All Pyne did was further complicate the situation at quarterback by leading two scoring drives and completing 6 of 8 passes for 81 yards with a touchdown.

Pyne’s first completion of the season showed what he can do in extending plays and getting out of the pocket. He zipped a pass across his body while rolling to the right for a 15-yard gain to graduate student wide receiver Avery Davis.

Four games into the season, the outlook at quarterback for the Irish had become even fuzzier than before. But really, the controversy was only just getting started.

Coan played the entire first half against Cincinnati. He didn’t account for any points, and the Irish trailed 17-0. Pyne replaced him and brought Notre Dame to within 17-13 early in the fourth quarter. He didn’t complete the comeback, but he left many wondering what could have been had he played the entire game.

Coan connected on 14 of 22 throws for 114 yards with an interception. Pyne completed 9 of 22 passes for 143 yards with a touchdown. The completion percentage was far less than desirable, but the wide receivers didn’t help with drops and Notre Dame was in pass-happy mode trying to catch up to the Bearcats on the scoreboard.

The most important numbers, though, were zero and 13. Zero points with Coan in the game, 13 with Pyne. When Kelly made his decision as to who would start the following week at Virginia Tech, though, those were clearly not the most important data points.

Coan started in a hostile environment against the Hokies, but his first stint in the game didn’t last long. Buchner replaced him on Notre Dame’s fourth possession of the game because like against Cincinnati, the Irish offense was widely ineffective with Coan in the game.

Buchner led a touchdown drive on his first try, meanwhile. He set it up with a feathered 46-yard pass to senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. down the sideline. He capped it off with the first rushing score of his career, a hard-fought three-yard plunge at the goal line.

Buchner led two more scoring drives, one of which culminated in an eight-yard touchdown toss to Williams, but he also threw two interceptions. The Hokies returned one of them to the house for a pick-six.

Trailing by eight with less than four minutes left, Kelly turned back to Coan. And he made the right decision. Coan engineered two scoring drives; a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown march in 1:29 and a seven-play, 45-yard possession that set up the game-winning field goal.

Coan completed 7 of 9 throws for 93 yards and a touchdown with the game on the line after starting 2 of 3 for 15 yards with two costly sacks. Kelly said the fourth quarter Coan is the one he sees in practice every day, which is why he has made the decision to start him in all six games to this point.

Will Coan keep getting the call to action from the opening kick, or did Buchner show enough upside in salvaging the Virginia Tech game to become QB1? What happened to Pyne, who seemed to be in Buchner’s shoes pushing for the starting role one week only to not play at all the next?

A lot can be answered by Notre Dame’s offensive line. After looking feeble yet again in the first quarter against Virginia Tech, the unit rebounded to have its best game of the season. When pass protection and run blocking is adequate at the least, the Notre Dame coaching staff favors Coan over the other two options. When things aren’t going well up front, Kelly has turned to either Pyne or Buchner.

It’s not just possible all three will play in the second half of the season — at this point, it’s probable. Not one of them has been consistent enough to play every snap from now until the end of the season. Kelly and company like Buchner’s playmaking ability whether he starts or not. Coan could succumb to another injury if the line lets him down again, which would open up the door for the other two.

If Notre Dame’s situation at quarterback has taught us anything through six games, it’s that nobody has all the answers. Not even Kelly. He was searching for them on the fly against Virginia Tech. Don’t be surprised if that's the case going forward.

Passing

Jack Coan: 100 of 162 (61.7 percent) for 1,208 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions

Drew Pyne: 15 of 30 (50.0 percent) for 224 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions

Tyler Buchner: 9 of 20 (45.0 percent) for 191 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions

Rushing

Coan: 35 carries for minus-85 yards and zero touchdowns

Pyne: Six carries for minus-six yards and zero touchdowns

Buchner: 26 carries for 167 yards and one touchdown

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