Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1418303
6 OCT. 23, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FAN FORUM BIG GAME BLUES First I would like to congratulate Coach Kelly on his historic win and bringing Notre Dame back to a winning level and the excellent job BGI does cov- ering the Irish. Now I would like to ask your opinion on why is it over the last 10 years for each big game after big game we play so sloppy and unorganized. Receivers drop balls time after time, we fumble kickoffs that should be easily caught (hence this week's fumble on kickoff as an example) and when we need to rely on a defensive stop (regardless of how the defense has played) we give up big play after big play. To Coach Freeman, please stop the three-man rush it just gives the oppos- ing QB more time to pick us apart (hence FSU) and if we can't play man-to-man consistently why do we stay in it on crucial downs during the game (where there are consistent blown coverages). It might be better to play "bend but don't break" defense until we find out an identity as an offense. R. McCabe Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: sdowney@comanpub.com Following the 24-13 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 2 during which all three Irish quarterbacks — graduate student Jack Coan, sophomore Drew Pyne and freshman Tyler Buchner — saw action, there was plenty of discussion about what Irish head coach Brian Kelly needed to do at one of the most important positions on the field. Here is a sampling of opinions about Notre Dame's quarterback situation from our message board on BlueandGold.com: 53green: Pretty sure it won't take Kelly long to realize the 'potential' of riding Pyne for the next 3 years. I'm sure that'll overcome any guilt of disap- pointing Coan for transferring here. ND96SC01: If you are still trying to figure out your QB situation after five games, there is a problem. edd1066: Something has to be decided on. Pyne seems to be the right choice. Amazing how inept we are on offense this year on all levels. Maloy49: This conversation and question should have happened with the staff last week. BK punting it down the road cost him the game yesterday. nedavis2: Unpopular opin- ion: Kelly handled this QB situ- ation damn near perfectly. Calind: Pyne is much more mobile than I thought, pleas- antly surprised there. BGI User 2232: We can sec- ond-guess the decision-making strategy on this until the cows come home, but sometimes you have to see them play in prime time to really know what you have. Maybe some coaches sharper than Kelly and Rees could have recognized this earlier. We'll have no way of knowing, but if it feels better to level that kind of criticism, then have at it. I can think of a few ND quarterbacks over the years who didn't look like they were ready to lead the team until circumstances gave them the opportunity. Kizer? Book? Joe Montana? johnmichie: The future rests on Pyne, so play him thru and see what he's got. Jack leaves after this year and has been er- ratic. Time to closely gauge whether Pyne is a short- and longer-term answer or backup. PreTill1: Yeah, and people said I was crazy for stating we were going to miss Book this year. All the hype about Coan in the preseason was silly. He just isn't very good. A game manager at best but even then can't be counted on when you have to pass. The worst part is Pyne isn't the answer. He is better than Coan but that isn't saying a ton. BK's Achilles heel is QB evaluation. Been going on 12 years. It's what keeps him from the elite category. I know I don't see practices so I don't have all the info but I still don't get how they went with Coan this week. Is their passing game practice only against air? Hond: There's all sorts of issues with the passing game. Blocking, drops, pass accuracy, quarterback mobility, ability to sell the play action, ability to run the RPO, ability to throw on the run, running backs picking up the blitz, ability to read defenses, etc. It's very complex. Coan may be the most mature, but his interception in the first quarter was a bad decision and if that's what he's prone to, then Pyne beats him on a lot of these other measures. Pyne strikes me as a guy that truly wants the job. Del2210: There is a famous thought as a coach specifically for the QB position in football. If you have 2-3 QBs, the problem is you don't have one! FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com Sophomore Drew Pyne (far left), graduate student Jack Coan (No. 17) and freshman Tyler Buchner (No. 12) all saw action in Notre Dame's 24-13 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 2, but the general consensus is the Irish need to settle on one quarterback. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER