Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 APRIL 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA T he name of the game was too ironic to be true. The Fiesta Bowl. It literally translates to the party bowl, but that game was anything but that for Notre Dame. The fear was all the mo- mentum the Irish had gained in pro- moting Marcus Freeman to head coach less than four weeks prior had been eradicated in a 37-35 loss to Oklahoma State. Like scooping the last bit of salsa out of a, um, party bowl. That has not been the case. Plenty of sauce to go around — still. Yes, Notre Dame lost the game. But it didn't lose the spring. And it hasn't lost any games in the 2022 season. If anything, the Irish are hard at work this month making sure they do everything they can so they don't lose a single one. Perhaps that's too lofty an expectation for a first-year head coach surrounded by a smorgasbord of assistants plucked from various places around the country, from fellow top-tier college programs to the NFL. But it's not lofty enough for players to keep it out of their mouths. They even take it a step further with- out thinking twice. This group of guys is still talking about a national champion- ship, and the belief that it can happen as soon as this season starts with the man at the helm and trickles down through every nook and cranny of the program. "We can make history here at Notre Dame," junior quarterback Drew Pyne said. "If we win a national champion- ship we'll be remembered forever be- cause it's been a long time since that happened. I think this team is a team that can do it. It's led by the right coach, it's led by the right assistant coaches and it's led by the right players. "We're going to do everything we possibly can to reach that goal, and I'm going to do everything I possibly can to reach that goal, too." So let's start right there with Pyne himself. If the Irish are going to win it all, they have to have strong quarterback play. It could come from Pyne. THE QUARTERBACK COMPETITION Departed graduate student Jack Coan was not named Notre Dame's starter until Aug. 14 last year but face the facts — it was going to happen sooner than later. His "competition" with then- sophomore Drew Pyne was a formality all along. Coan came in from Wisconsin to start. Period. And he did, all 13 games. Pyne now appears to be in an actual battle for the starting job, but once again the junior is not the favorite to claim it. That's sophomore Tyler Bu- chner, who appeared in 10 games last season compared to just two for Pyne. Granted, Buchner's appearances were in more pre-planned package type situ- ations. But it was telling that Buchner got the nod when Coan was benched mid-game at Virginia Tech, not Pyne — the player who relieved Coan under dif- ferent circumstances in the two weeks prior. He played in the second half for an injured Coan in a win over Wisconsin and in the second half of a loss to Cin- cinnati. Pyne threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on 15-of-30 passing. The last pass he threw against the Bearcats was the last pass he threw all season. "I was always prepared to play," Pyne said. "That's something I pride myself on. When I went in, I was confident and proud of how I performed. Whatever decision was made was above me." Buchner was still ailing from a ham- string issue when Pyne received his op- portunities. And that's part of the in- trigue in the dynamic between these two. It's still an open question as to whether Buchner can hold up as a starter for the entirety of a season, March through De- cember. He's bigger than Pyne, but he's bound to take more chances in the run- ning game. Those bumps and bruises will add up. The other intriguing aspect is, quite simply, determining which of the two is the better passer. It's a simple enough issue that hasn't really been an- swered. That's what spring practices are for. Buchner believes he's more than who he was in 2021. "I don't think last year was a complete representation of who I am as a player," Buchner said. "I really wanted to help the team win. Last year, what I needed to do was to be a change-up, package quarterback. It just so happened I ran the ball more than I threw it." Buchner has thrown 35 pass attempts in his college career versus Pyne's 33. Spring practices are all about develop- ment and growth. They're also about determining who is a better player, not just a better passer. There's obviously a difference. Still, if Buchner and Pyne have healthy competition that results in improvement for both players, that's the best-case scenario for the Irish long term. WHAT DOES THE DEFENSE LOOK LIKE? Will it be Marcus Freeman's defense that Al Golden is overseeing, or will it be Golden's defense that Freeman is over- seeing? Probably a mixture of both. Freeman said in February to make no mistake, this is Golden's defense. But he also said he wanted to hire a defensive coordinator who could come in with- out having to install a bunch of new schemes right away. Rather, one who could work with what was already in- stalled and adjust as he saw fit. IN FULL BLOOM Like the revival of flowers in the spring, Notre Dame has a colorful sense of newness about it — from the head coach to assistants and even some players 2022 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is con- ducting his first set of spring practices as the man in charge of the Irish program. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER