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No. 14 Notre Dame football escapes Virginia Tech 32-29 on late field goal

Brian Kelly said he wanted to avoid a “flavor of the week” type of situation at quarterback. Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech was more like a flavor of the quarter kind of thing.

Would you like a scoop of graduate senior Jack Coan or a heaping of true freshman Tyler Buchner?

Coan started. Buchner replaced him in the second quarter and held onto QB1 duties into the fourth quarter. His last pass attempt of the game was an interception, and he was injured in funky, non-contact fashion after the fact.

So in came Coan again, and he did nothing but engineer two scoring drives in the final four minutes in front of a roaring, raucous crowd at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. Notre Dame escaped as hostile an environment as they come with a 32-29 victory.

Any sprinkles with that?

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Senior kicker Jonathan Doerer drilled a 48-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to send No. 14 Notre Dame (5-1) into its bye week with a bounce-back victory. Coan finished 9-of-12 for 108 yards and a touchdown despite getting pulled from the game in the first half.

Buchner was erratic as a passer at times. He went 6-of-14 for 113 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. He added 67 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Senior running back Kyren Williams ran for 74 yards and a touchdown and a receiving touchdown as well.

Virginia Tech took a late third quarter lead on a 26-yard interception return by Jermaine Waller off of Buchner. The Hokies extended their lead to eight points on quarterback Braxton Burmeister's 19-yard scrambling score with 3:55 remaining.

Then Coan took ahold of the Notre Dame offense again, and he took the game over too.

Coan completed five of his final six pass attempts, including a four-yard touchdown toss to senior wide receiver Avery Davis with 2:26 left. Notre Dame tied the game on a two-point conversion from Coan to senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr.

Thirty-five of the 45 yards the Irish gained to set up Doerer for the winning kick came from the arm of Coan on completions of 20 yards to Davis and 15 yards to senior tight end George Takacs.

The stage was set for Doerer, and he delivered with his second game-winning kick of the season. Notre Dame outgained an opponent for the first time since week two against Toledo. The Irish had 394 yards to the Hokies' 308.

First Quarter 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football running back Kyren Williams
Junior running back Kyren Williams looks for running room against Virginia Tech. (Kenneth Martin/BGI)

Virginia Tech 7, Notre Dame 0

• Scoring play: Raheem Blackshear seven-yard rush

• Drive: Seven plays, 80 yards, 3:54

Second Quarter 

Virginia Tech 10, Notre Dame 0

• Scoring play: 19-yard field goal

• Drive: 14 plays, 59 yards, 6:17

Virginia Tech 10, Notre Dame 7

• Scoring play: Tyler Buchner three-yard rush

• Drive: Seven plays, 75 yards, 3:44

Notre Dame 14, Virginia Tech 10

• Scoring play: Eight-yard touchdown pass from Buchner to Kyren Williams

• Drive: Nine plays, 80 yards, 0:59

Notre Dame 14, Virginia Tech 13

• Scoring play: 52-yard field goal

• Drive: five plays, 46 yards, 0:24

Third Quarter 

Virginia Tech 16, Notre Dame 14

• Scoring play: 26-yard field goal

• Drive: 11 plays, 61 yards, 6:01

Notre Dame 21, Virginia Tech 16

• Scoring play: Williams 10-yard rush

• Drive: four plays, 29 yards, 1:56

Virginia Tech 22, Notre Dame 16

• Scoring play: Jermaine Waller 26-yard interception return

Fourth Quarter 

Virginia Tech 29, Notre Dame 21

• Scoring play: Braxton Burmeister 19-yard rush

• Drive: Eight plays, 56 yards, 3:43

Notre Dame 29, Virginia Tech 29

• Scoring play: Avery Davis four-yard pass from Jack Coan

• Drive: Seven plays, 75 yards, 1:29

Notre Dame 32, Virginia Tech 29

• Scoring play: 48-yard field goal

• Drive: Seven plays, 45 yards, 1:39

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