Tyler Buchner’s football career has been littered with injuries, and to Notre Dame fans’ dismay he is out again. Buchner has now only played 12 games in all of his the last three seasons; his senior year of highschool, freshman year, and now sophomore year.
In last Saturday’s game, Buchner left the game in the fourth quarter due to a glaringly obvious shoulder injury. At the end of a scramble, he was hit by Marshall linebacker on a second and four play, trapping his arm against his body and driving him into the ground. When he got up, it almost looked like his left arm was hanging as he exited the field. Later, Tyler could be seen on the sidelines with his left shoulder being supported by freshman quarterback Steve Angelli.
After further investigation, Notre Dame announced that their starting QB would be out for the remainder of the season after suffering a grade 5 AC joint sprain in his non throwing shoulder. Tyler Buchner is set to undergo surgery today and will begin his four month journey to recovery. When asked about the remainder of the season, head coach Marcus Freeman remarked, “We can all do the math and probably put it somewhere, maybe January. So, that’s where we’re at with that. Moving forward, Drew Pyne will be our starter, and as I said when we addressed the quarterback competition in fall camp I had the utmost confidence in both of those guys being able to lead our offense and lead this football team.”
With the season ramping up, Notre Dame looks to improve as the team recently dropped out of the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2017. Falling from their No. 5 spot after their loss to Ohio State, the Irish fell again from No. 8 following their 26-21 loss to Marshall. Coach Freeman looks to Buchner for QB support from the sidelines stating, “That’s going to be [Buchner’s] role now, you got to become a coach. You got to somehow make our team better, even though you’re not going to be playing.” With Tyler Buchner out, the Fighting Irish will start Drew Pyne in Saturday’s game against California.
