Notre Dame QB Buchner out for season with shoulder injury

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Irish sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner will miss the rest of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of Notre Dame’s loss to Marshall this past Saturday.

Head Coach Marcus Freeman said during a press conference Monday that Buchner suffered a high-grade sprain to his AC joint in his left, non-throwing shoulder. Buchner will have surgery on Tuesday, and Freeman projected a four-month recovery timeline.

Junior quarterback Drew Pyne, who replaced Buchner after he was injured on Saturday, will now take over starting duties for the Fighting Irish. True freshman Steve Angeli will be promoted to backup.

Back in August when Freeman announced Buchner would be the starting quarterback, he said both Buchner and Pyne were capable of running the offense. And Freeman says he doesn’t expect the offense to make any extreme changes.

“As I said when we addressed the quarterback competition in the fall camp, I had the upmost confidence in both of those guys being able to lead our offense and lead this football team,” Freeman said. “So we are still very positive and optimistic about our future moving forward and following with Drew Pyne leading our offense, and I’m excited for his opportunity and what he’s going to present to our football team.”

Freeman also touched on what he’s seen from Pyne and why it makes him feel confident in the transition.

“It’s what I’ve seen from the minute I told him he wasn’t going to be QB number one,” Freeman said. “I remember that conversation in my office when I told him we made a decision, but I’ve never been part of a program where you haven’t used more than one quarterback throughout the course of a season. And I didn’t know when his time was going to come, but I knew it was going to come at some point. And here it is. He’s always prepared like the starter, prepared like a pro. That’s who Drew Pyne is. He doesn’t need to be any different than who he’s always been.”

Notre Dame turns the page to their next home game against Cal this upcoming Saturday. Kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m.

Copyright 2022 WNDU. All rights reserved.