Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 OCT. 22, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he question became more in- evitable every week given the way junior Drew Pyne has played since taking over Notre Dame starting quarterback duties in Game 3 against California. After going 3-0 as QB1 against Cal, North Carolina and BYU — and heading into the Stanford game last weekend with swelling con- fidence, team momentum and his Irish listed as a 17-point favorite — Pyne has unintentionally raised the question of if he should've been the opening-day starter at Ohio State Sept. 3, instead of sophomore Tyler Buchner? Pyne and Buchner battled for the starting spot all the way back to the spring season. Buchner — who played an important complemen- tary role behind starter Jack Coan last season — won the starting job, unsurprisingly. Buchner started Notre Dame's first two games this season — the Irish lost both — before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the season and made Pyne the next man in. Expectedly, first- year Irish head coach Marcus Freeman was asked after Pyne's terrific per- formance against BYU and before the Stanford game if he regretted not start- ing Pyne from the get-go this season. "No, I don't question that decision at all," Freeman said. "The starting job was earned through practice, and we made a decision. Sometimes the [win-loss] results can put a mask over your eyes and cloud the process of getting to that decision." Pyne entered the Stanford game af- ter leading a balanced Irish offense that piled up 551 passing yards, 521 rushing yards and 59 first downs in consecutive wins over North Carolina and BYU. After struggling in the first half against Cal in his first career start Sept. 17, Pyne settled down, and dur- ing his following 10 quarters of football through the 28-20 BYU win, he com- pleted 72 percent of his passes with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception — a stretch that situated Pyne No. 17 na- tionally in passing efficiency rating. "[Pyne] has earned the right, obvi- ously, to now be our starting quarter- back, and has done a great job with this opportunity," Freeman continued. "But no, I don't question our decision in terms of making Tyler the starter to start the year." Nobody is here to suggest Buchner didn't earn the right to start at Ohio State, and that he was the logical open- ing-day option after playing an impor- tant backup role last season. But given the poise and promise that Pyne is demonstrating as the 2022 starter, it will be hard not to wonder "what if" for the rest of this season, and "what's next" in 2023. TURNOVER TRENDS Renown college football magazine and website publisher Phil Steele of- fered a unique preseason perspective that included Notre Dame and a few other FBS teams in an interesting sta- tistical analysis that wasn't necessarily encouraging regarding takeaways and giveaways. Steele explained how the nation's top teams each year in turnover margin rarely eclipse or even match their high takeaway-giveaway marks the fol- lowing season, and a sagging win- loss record usually follows. Steele explained how in the last 32 years, 479 teams have had a plus double-digit takeaway-to-give- away turnover ratio. And of that group, 307 of those teams (64 per- cent) had weaker records the fol- lowing year, and only 133 teams (28 percent) actually improved their win-loss record the next season. With a plus-9 takeaway-to- giveaway ratio in 2021 (25 to 16), Notre Dame didn't quite reach Steele's double-digit threshold. But Steele still listed the Irish on his "going down" list in this year's preview magazine, based in part off of their impressive 2021 takeaway- giveaway numbers. Last season, Notre Dame fin- ished No. 15 nationally with a plus- 0.69 turnover margin. It entered the Stanford game ranked No. 113 nationally in the category with a mi- nus-0.80 turnover margin. Time will tell if Notre Dame can buck Steele's dubious "going down" predic- tion and match the 11 wins from last season. But based on the 0-2 Irish start, and their crummy turnover numbers through five games — 2 takeaways and 6 giveaways — Steele's prediction of a downturn win-loss record for Notre Dame seems on mark. Obviously, much can still improve this season for Notre Dame and its turn- over ratio. But if it doesn't, maybe there is some good news looking ahead. Steele points out that over the last 20 years, teams that struggle to turn op- ponents over one season improve their win-loss record the following year 77 percent of the time. It's a lot of stats and numbers to sort through, indeed, but still an interesting statistical trend the Fighting Irish are in the middle of. ✦ While Pyne performed very well in leading Notre Dame to three straight wins after the team's 0-2 start, head coach Marcus Freeman stood behind the decision to start Tyler Buchner to begin the season. PHOTO BY KAYDEE GAWLIK Should Drew Pyne Have Started At The Start? UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com