Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2023 17 the quarterbacks in fall camp. You just can't take that chance of getting your quarterbacks hit and hurt in practice." So, does that mean Angeli is the most ready to start against South Carolina at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.? Not necessarily. Buchner has been prac- ticing since November, and his first few sessions of December caught the eye of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. In a good way. "I thought today was really one of his strongest practices he's had in a couple years here," Rees said Dec. 11. "He was really sharp today. He's been smooth. There haven't been a ton of issues in terms of what we're asking him to do. I'm proud of the way he stayed engaged and was able to hit the ground running a little bit." Part of staying engaged involved sit- ting in the Notre Dame coaches' booth in the press box during games this fall. Rees famously — or infamously, de- pending on who you ask — calls games from a bird's-eye view. Buchner was privy to that outlook for all 10 games Pyne started. With Rees locked in on the overall operation, Buchner was able to focus strictly on Pyne's play. He watched the game through the lens of a signal-caller. "He would always set his eyes where the quarterback's eyes were supposed to be set," Rees said. "If I needed an ex- tra vantage point, he would say, 'Hey, this is what it looked like from this side.' Wherever the eyes were supposed to go. "He was valuable there because he hears the play call and he's able to see the defense from the same vantage point. If I'm looking at something dif- ferent, he was always able to look at it and know where the quarterback, based on a great view, was supposed to put his eyes. If we had an error, I could always look to him." Mental reps are useful, but they'll forever take a lower podium placement to physical ones. Rees said there was some rust from Buchner in the timing of sending teammates in motion and with communication issues in his first few practices back. Those are the types of problems that are only fixed with rep- etition. Angeli, meanwhile, should not have such hindrances at this stage of his freshman season. He was immediately pulled from the scout team when Bu- chner was injured versus Marshall. He's taken second- and first-team reps ever since. It wouldn't be inaccurate to sug- gest he has an on-field comfort edge over Buchner given the ins and outs of their football lives the last 90 days. "He had to be in every game plan meeting, be on the field, take reps, take reps versus looks he doesn't know, learn from making mistakes, learn from making good plays," Rees said of Angeli. "The ability for him to learn this year was so critical for him moving forward." Rees said Angeli has a "quiet swag- ger to him." Buchner does, too. At the stage Angeli is currently at in his first year with the program, Buchner had al- ready played 163 collegiate snaps. He had thrown for 3 touchdowns and run for 3 more. He laid the foundation for what Notre Dame wants him to be — as dynamic of a dual-threat quarterback as there is in the country. The Irish can't just snap their fingers and expect that to be who Buchner is in the Gator Bowl, though. He hasn't played a competitive snap in over three months. Junior tight end Michael Mayer won't be on the field as a safety valve, either. Pyne couldn't have thrown for 22 touchdowns with the nation's No. 21 passer rating (155.3) without Mayer. He caught 9 of those scores and accounted for 33.7 percent of Notre Dame's total receiving yardage. Whether it's Buchner's grand return from injury or Angeli's ceremonious first start, Notre Dame's 2022 bowl season won't be short of signal-calling drama. The best way to push that story- line down the podium, like physical reps superseding the mental ones? Gaining yards on the ground. That always helps. "We have to be able to run the ball," Freeman said. "And we have to be able to take advantage of the things that defenses are giving us in the passing game." Buchner, Angeli, the field is yours. Sophomore tailbacks Audric Estime and Logan Diggs, along with the five bull- dozing offensive linemen who work in tandem with them, the task of making it easier on those two is yours. Grab some popcorn. Or, perhaps, some nitroglycerin pills if those are more up your alley on the stress-sooth- ing front. Notre Dame won't know what it has offensively Dec. 30 until the Irish are firmly planted in the trenches. ✦ "I thought today was really one of his strongest practices he's had in a couple years here. He was really sharp today. He's been smooth. There haven't been a ton of issues in terms of what we're asking him to do. I'm proud of the way he stayed engaged and was able to hit the ground running a little bit." OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TOMMY REES ON BUCHNER