Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 SEPT. 18, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Notre Dame true freshman quarter- back Tyler Buchner entering the game against Toledo and temporarily reliev- ing a healthy Coan couldn't have been on many Irish home opener bingo cards. How could it have been? Coan was coming off a 366-yard, four-touchdown performance in Notre Dame's 41-38 season-opening victory over Florida State after all. He engi- neered yet another game-opening touchdown drive against the Rockets, too. And yet, Notre Dame still needed a spark. It couldn't run the ball whatso- ever in the early going against Toledo, clinging to a slim 7-6 lead. When Buch- ner ran onto the field for the first time, Notre Dame had minus-one rushing yard. When he went back to the sideline after leading a touchdown drive, Notre Dame's rush total was up to 80 yards. And he had 37 of them. "We're trying to find a run game," Kelly said. "We were backed up there, and I felt like going to Tyler there, he would give us the versatility in the run game that we needed at that time. "Turned out that it worked out pretty good, and he gave us the shot in the arm that we needed." So, now what? How many times will Notre Dame have to turn to Buchner when the going gets tough offensively? How many shots in the arm can Buchner provide? Those answers might have to manifest naturally. But Buchner's entrance wasn't a total surprise. Not to his Notre Dame team- mates, anyway. Tyree said the 55-yard touchdown the two connected on in the fourth quarter was a play that was worked on all week in practices. Buchner will continue to get his op- portunities. The question is how many. "I think having them both keeps the defense off of what you're trying to do," Kelly said of Coan and Buchner. "I think we can blend both into what we are try- ing to do. But each week is a different week." Buchner's pass to Tyree was one of three he completed on the day. He passed for 78 yards without throwing an incompletion. Kelly said Irish offen- sive coordinator Tommy Rees has felt comfortable opening the playbook up for Buchner. His insertion into any game going for- ward won't necessarily mean he's au- tomatically going to run. That's where the confusion for the opposition Kelly alluded to could come into play. However, there is only so much Bu- chner can do with limited snaps. Coan is clearly the No. 1 option through two weeks of the season. There was a reason he was the one entrusted with leading Notre Dame's come from be- NOTRE DAME VS. TOLEDO QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 7:19 5:41 9:13 8:03 13:00 17:16 30:16 Third-Down Conversions 2-4 0-0 4-6 2-3 2-4 6-9 8-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Average Field Position ND-21 ND-18 ND-27 ND-41 ND-19 ND-35 ND-26 Toledo 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 7:41 9:19 5:47 6:57 17:00 12:44 29:44 Third-Down Conversions 1-4 2-5 0-3 3-4 3-9 3-7 6-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position ND-36 ND-49 ND-27 ND-19 ND-41 ND-23 ND-31 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND TOL Nega ve 12 10 0-5 38 36 6-9 8 5 10-19 13 8 20-29 2 2 30-39 1 0 40-49 1 0 50 or more 1 2 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 2 2 0 0 Toledo 4 1 3 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 TOL46 Coan pass complete to Mayer for 28 yards • 1-10 ND4 Buchner 26-yard rush • 1-10 TOL43 Williams 43-yard rush for a touchdown • 1-10 ND45 Buchner pass complete to Tyree for 55-yard touchdown • 1-10 ND25 Coan pass complete to Aus n for 34 yards Toledo • 3-5 TOL23 Bradley pass complete to Maddox for 66 yards to ND11 • 1-10 TOL11 Koback 67-yard rush to ND22 • 3-1 ND26 Finn 26-yard rush for a touchdown On the 10 plays (seven rushes and three passes) he had the ball in his hands, Buchner accounted for 146 yards of total offense (68 rushing and 78 passing) and one touchdown. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER