Which Notre Dame QB should start at Virginia Tech? The answer is complex
Brian Kelly said the same thing on two occasions this week.
The Notre Dame quarterback who has graded out the best this season and the one gives the Fighting Irish its most favorable odds of winning will start this Saturday at Virginia Tech (7:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network).
Is it possible those are two different players, though? Of course it is. That's what makes the 12th-year Notre Dame head coach's decision a difficult one when using the evaluation process he provided in his Thursday press conference.
"I think going on the road in the environment that we're in was a factor," Kelly said. "Mobility is a bit of a factor. It needed to be evaluated. And then certainly grading out and from our overall perspective, of the guys, who gives us the best chance to win? This is still about winning football games. When we added all those things up, that's how we came up with the decision."
It's a decision Kelly elected to not publicly share. The country will have to wait and see which Notre Dame quarterback runs onto the field first on Saturday night.
"I just feel like at this point we'll let it roll out when we get on the field and kind of go from there," Kelly said. "The guys know. We've been practicing all week. And I don't think it's going to be a big surprise."
Sophomore Drew Pyne has never started a game in his career, so graduate senior Jack Coan might have the upper hand when it comes to handling the cacophonous atmosphere Lane Stadium is sure to present. But Pyne is much more mobile than Coan, so he might even the score there.
Now throw advanced statistics out the window before getting into the grades. The eye test probably told most observers the starter should be Pyne. He engineered two second-half touchdown drives against Cincinnati. Coan did not put any points on the board in the first half.
But since Kelly seems to be so fond of “grading out,” let's bring those numbers back into play. According to Pro Football Focus, Coan has been better than Pyne. The former has a season-long offensive grade of 67.7. The latter has an offensive grade of 63.2.
Should those figures be taken with a grain of salt? Perhaps. Kelly and his coaching staff might even have their own grading systems. PFF's numbers might not mean a thing. But two things are certain — Kelly is relying on grades of some sort, and the ones that are readily available give Coan an edge over Pyne.
True freshman Tyler Buchner actually has the highest PFF grade (73.1) of any Notre Dame signal caller despite only attempting six passes, one of which was intercepted. He has run for 100 yards on 14 carries, though, and has also thrown a lengthy touchdown pass. That's why whether it's Coan or Pyne who gets the nod to start, Buchner's appearances will likely continue.
"It's important to really rally behind one quarterback," Kelly said. "But if we feel like Tyler Buchner can add to what we're doing as a part of our offense — I don't want to call him a wildcat because he's not. He can do much more. But offenses use that as part of their established offensive structure.
"We need an established, singular offensive structure. But if we feel like we need to add to it to be better at moving the football, I wouldn't say Tyler Buchner is out of the options of playing in any game this year."
If not for poor offensive line play, Notre Dame might not be in the midst of a midseason quarterback controversy. The line has allowed more sacks (22.0) than all but two teams in the country, though, and Coan has been on the receiving end of most of them.
Can Pyne’s athleticism mitigate the offensive line’s woes long term like it did against Wisconsin and Cincinnati, or does Kelly still value Coan's experience and passing touch enough to start him for the sixth consecutive game?
It appears the world will have to wait for Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to stop playing through the speakers at Lane Stadium on Saturday to know for sure.
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