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ND's Buchner exudes confidence he's ready to ascend in the bowl and beyond

Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner is optimistic about his short-term and long-term future at ND.
Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner is optimistic about his short-term and long-term future at ND. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Amid his usual monotone answers and the deadpan facial expressions, Notre Dame’s reinstated No. 1 option at quarterback, Tyler Buchner, made an emboldened implication of sorts on Sunday about his long-term future.

As in, the sophomore expects to be Notre Dame’s starting QB in 2023, regardless if or who the Irish add from the transfer portal in the coming weeks.

“I honestly figured they'd bring in someone, just because there's kind of been rumblings about it, and I understand,” Buchner said after No. 21 Notre Dame’s latest practice in preparation for its Dec. 30 Gator Bowl clash in Jacksonville, Fla., against 19th-ranked South Carolina (8-4).

“If somebody gets hurt, you need more depth in the room. You need people. Yeah.”

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That’s not the way junior Drew Pyne interpreted the potential addition to the quarterback room, which would have swelled the number of players at that position group in the spring to six. So, three days before the portal opened for business for underclassmen on Dec. 5, ND’s starter from game 3 through game 12 this season announced his imminent departure.

That leaves presumably Buchner, freshman Steve Angeli, sophomore Ron Powlus III, early enrollee Kenny Minchey and a transfer to be named later divvying up reps in the spring.

“He’s one of my best friends,” Buchner said of Pyne. “We still talk. We’re really close. And I just wish the best for him. He’s a really talented player. I just want to see him win.”

Pyne’s timing prevented head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees from having to decide who’d start for the Irish (8-4) in Jacksonville, with Buchner three weeks ago taking his first meaningful practice reps since the week of Sept. 5.

Buchner beat out Pyne in August training camp, then started for the Irish in losses to Ohio State on Sept. 3 and Marshall the following Saturday. He didn’t finish against the Thundering Herd, though, suffering what was then believed to be a season-ending separation to his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

“Sort of midseason, there was some sort of discussion, ‘Would you be OK if need be?’” Buchner said when it was first brought to his attention that his rehab was progressing ahead of schedule. “And you know, we didn't really talk about it. And then I started practicing again and things felt good.”

Pyne was statistically the better passer this season, finishing the regular season 21st nationally in pass efficiency (155.3), but seven of the 10 teams he faced ranked 68th or lower (out of 131) nationally in total defense and five of those were 93rd or worse.

And in pass-efficiency defense, eight of the 10 Pyne opponents were 81st or worse.

Buchner, the decidedly better runner of the two, was matched with statistically the two best defenses the Irish faced all season — Marshall 10th in total defense and Ohio State 12th. He fashioned a 111.5 rating against those two teams, more than 30 points lower than what he accrued as a freshman, tag-team niche player in 2021.

But Notre Dame’s offensive line is vastly improved since the early part of the season, and the running game has gone from 111th nationally to 43rd in Buchner’s absence. You could argue that the wide receiver corps is stronger than in September, though All-America tight end Michael Mayer has opted out of the bowl game.

Buchner said he feels he was able to improve, too, while sidelined even without physical reps or game experience. The catalyst, he said, was putting him up in the booth with Rees during games instead of having him hang out of the sidelines.

There he charted plays (though never suggested any), learning more about how defenses work and attack, and gleaning the “why” behind Rees’ play calls.

“It's not that the game slows down,” he said. “It's more like I just feel like I know what's going on. There's no guessing. It's like, ‘Yeah, the defense is in this because of this.’ I know that. This is good versus that. There's always answers to things, and I feel like I'm getting to the answer quicker than I was before.”

Except when it comes to when he felt 100 percent physically again.

“I'm not sure. I don't know,” he said.

Has it been days? Weeks?

“I don't really know,” he persisted. “I just take the rehab one day at a time and go in there, lift, work out, try to get better every day.”

Per Rees and freshman backup Angeli, Buchner is succeeding at the latter.

How good will he be when it comes time to take on the nation’s No. 79 team in total defense with significant opt-outs on its defensive line and in its secondary?

A better version than who he was in the early part of September, Buchner maintains.

“You never really envision it going this way,” he said. “When you’re announced as the starter and then you’re hurt (in) week two, you lose two games — it's never the way you picture it. But you learn a lot through that.

“And I feel like getting hurt wasn't the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. I've learned a lot through it, became a better person. I think I became a smarter football player through it.

“And so, there's definitely a lot of learning lessons. I've done better in school, have more time. There's certainly things that you can benefit from.”

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