In 1972, the NCAA eliminated freshman ineligibility for good. Freshmen were permitted to play in 1951 during the Korean War, but they were not allowed to compete in the ensuing 20 years on the varsity level until they became sophomores.

It took five years before an Irish freshman quarterback was inserted into a game. That was the No. 3 man Tim Koegel in the latter part of the 1977 national title season.

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5. Brady Quinn (2003) & Jimmy Clausen (2007)

The top two passers on the all-time Irish chart, both had rough initiations as freshmen, with Quinn going 4-5 as the starter and Clausen 3-6. Yet they earned respect the way they were able to keep getting up after taking beatings behind rebuilding or inexperienced lines.

Quinn’s 1,831 passing yards are a freshman record at Notre Dame, but so were his 15 interceptions while completing 47.3 percent of his passes.

Clausen’s 1,254 passing yards are No. 2.

4. Blair Kiel (1980)

In game four, a 32-14 win over Miami, Kiel became the first freshman quarterback to start a game for the Fighting Irish.

The final stats for the season were not pretty: 38.7 completion percentage, only 531 passing yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions. But he began 6-0-1 as the starter while helping the Irish to a No. 1 ranking before losing at USC (20-3) and then No. 1 Georgia (17-10) in the Sugar Bowl.

He earned the starting nod over senior Mike Courey after coming through in relief appearance victories against Michigan and Michigan State in the first two contests.

3. Tommy Rees (2010)

Promoted to offensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish this winter, Rees made a mark in head coach Brian Kelly’s first season when he over for good in the first quarter of the 2010 Tulsa game when starter Dayne Crist suffered a season-ending injury. Rees threw four interceptions and the Irish lost 28-27, but he responded with a four-game stretch in which the Irish were 4-0 to finish 8-5.

On Dec. 31, 2010, Rees also became the first freshman QB to start a bowl victory for the Irish, a 33-17 conquest of Miami.

His poise and aplomb in the final four games, all victories, were huge, especially leading touchdown drives at the end of each half in the 20-16 victory at USC to end a school-record eight-game losing streak to the Trojans.

Rees completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards, a freshman-record 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

2. Steve Beuerlein (1983)

The California native won his first five starts while replacing the senior Kiel (who regained his spot in the finale), highlighted by a 30-6 win at South Carolina. The Irish began the year 1-2 before Beuerlein took over.

Beuerlein’s best game actually was a 34-30 loss at Penn State in which he completed 14 of 20 passes for 257 yards before an 11th-hour touchdown by the Nittany Lions won it. Still, he became the first Irish freshman to pass for more than 1,000 yards (1,061) while completing 51.7 percent of his tosses.

1. Matt LoVecchio (2000)

The best combination of team success, impressive stats and as a dual threat. During his seven regular season starts the Irish:

• Were 7-0 and earned a BCS bid to the Fiesta Bowl.

• He completed 58.4 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns and only one interception.

• His 151.7 pass efficiency ranking would have ranked seventh nationally had he started 75 percent of the games.

• Rushed for 300 yards and 4.2 yards per carry.

• The Irish committed eight turnovers during the regular season — the fewest in NCAA history in an 11-game regular season — despite a freshman leading them.

In the Fiesta Bowl, LoVecchio completed only 13 of 33 passes and turned the ball over several times in a 41-9 loss to Oregon State, but his regular season was superb.

He eventually transferred to Indiana in 2002, after classmate Carlyle Holiday took over as the starter in 2001.

• Kiel, Beuerlein, and Quinn all made their first starts in the fourth game of the season. While LoVecchio’s starting debut was in game five. Clausen was the earliest ever to start (game two).

• None of the three starting quarterbacks for the Irish on the last three national championship teams saw action as a freshman.

Tom Clements might have started in 1971 to replace the graduated Joe Theismann — but that was the last season of freshman ineligibility.

In 1974, freshman Joe Montana was seventh team overall and even No. 4 on the junior varsity, where in three games he was the starting punter but was only 1-of-6 passing.

Tony Rice had to sit out his freshman season in 1986 because of Proposition 48.

• Two others who started one game as a freshman were Kent Graham (Boston College in 1987) and Paul Failla (1991 versus Purdue).

With Phil Jurkovec transferring to Boston College this January, Drew Pyne as an early enrollee was going to vie with sophomore Brendon Clark for the No. 2 spot behind fifth-year senior and third-year starter Ian Book.

Pyne was the first freshman quarterback to enroll early at Notre Dame since Malik Zaire in 2013, but that advantage of having 15 spring practices to learn the offense and receive early training was nullified when the global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cancelling spring drills after only one session.

Still, other than Rees in 2010, the history under Kelly has indicated the quarterback will be redshirted as a freshman, if not as a sophomore.

This happened with Andrew Hendrix (2010), Everett Golson (2011), Gunner Kiel (2012), Zaire (2013), DeShone Kizer (2014), Book (2016), Avery Davis (2017), Jurkovec (2018) and Clark (2019).

Because of Golson’s transfer in June 2015 and Zaire’s season-ending injury in game two that season, Brandon Wimbush was elevated to the No. 2 quarterback role behind Kizer that season and burned a year of eligibility.

However, when Kizer and Zaire both returned in 2016, Wimbush was then redshirted as a sophomore.

We can’t say for sure if Pyne will follow the pattern in 2020 because the opportunity to be No. 2 remains wide open.

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