Notre Dame Quarterbacks Shine In Victory Over UNC

Kyren Williams was the star for Notre Dame but the Irish quarterbacks performed well in the victory

Two weeks removed from the team’s mid-season bye week, its evident Notre Dame has found some of the answers the team was searching for offensively through the first six games of the season.

Saturday night against North Carolina, Notre Dame played its best offensive game of the season by a fairly wide margin, posting season highs in total yards (523), rushing yards (293) and points (44). The star of the night for the Irish was junior running back Kyren Williams, who carried the ball 22 times for a career-high 199 yards on the ground just one week removed from putting up 138 rushing yards against USC.

Though Williams stole the show, Notre Dame’s quarterback tandem of Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner carried the momentum over from last week’s successes and led what was arguably the best version of the Notre Dame offense this season against the Tar Heels.

Coan was 16-of-24 for 213 yards and a touchdown through the air and also ran for 28 yards and another score. Buchner rushed four times for 14 yards and also opened up the scoring for the game with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Avery Davis that was one of his two completions on the night.

Just a few weeks ago Notre Dame appeared noticeably out of sorts trying to fit multiple quarterbacks into the same game plan, but the past two wins against USC and UNC revealed the benefits that come with properly playing to the strengths of two gifted but different signal callers at the right times.

One of the foremost advantages to the Irish’s two-quarterback system is the freedom and variety it allows offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to have with the playbook.

“We have a lot of answers for us right now that are being executed, but we’re doing it with two quarterbacks too, because we need Buchner,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said after the win. “Buchner made some really good plays, the third down play where he holds the ball and flips it over the top to get to Mayer, he’s making some really good plays too so the combination of the two quarterbacks really makes that an expansive playbook.”

Out of the team’s ten drives against North Carolina, two ended with punts and the other eight resulted with points on the board.

Against USC, Notre Dame ramped up the tempo offensively and set Coan up with short drop backs in the pocket and quick throws. He finished that game 20-for-28 for 189 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception, with 24 of those pass attempts going for 15 yards or less, per The Athletic. The Irish did the same against the Tar Heels, and Coan again was sharp and on top of his game.

It’s almost a complete 180 degree turn from how Coan was utilized in the early part of the season, primarily in the play-action game pushing the ball vertically deep down the field.

According to Kelly, what was once a misdiagnosis is beginning to be remedied.

“We were dumb," Kelly said of how they used Coan early in the season. "We were trying to figure out what he could do and we were using a lot of the skills that he had, but we have found obviously a niche where he feels really comfortable.

“He’s never played in this type of offense, this is new for him, so he’s got a shiny new toy that he really likes,” Kelly continued. “He is such a smart kid, he is such a good quarterback from that position. He did not make one mistake in identifying the fronts and checks and things of that nature … He had a lot on his plate but what he’s seeing is that he can really ascend in the offense right now.”

Coan’s struggles with mobility in the pocket and escaping pressure have been well documented this season, but against North Carolina the Long Island native proved he’s more than just a solid arm, rushing three times for 28 yards including a 21-yard scramble for a touchdown.

“I was excited about it," Coan said of his touchdown run. "I feel like I’m healthy and I can run, it’s something I can do and it was good to show it.”

While spectators might have been surprised to see Coan take off and run, Williams certainly wasn’t.

“I’m just super excited for Jack," Williams noted. "Not everybody thinks Jack can run, but obviously he showed that he can run tonight and that’s something we always knew.

“We always have faith in Jack.”

There Irish were able to keep pace with and ultimately outscore one of the nation’s most dynamic and potent offenses, tying a season-high with five offensive touchdowns in the game.

According to Coan, such offensive robustness can’t be limited to the North Carolina game.

“We just have to continue to execute. Honestly, no matter what the score is in every single game, every time we touch the field we want to go down and score points and we just try to do our jobs and just keep focus.”

Eight games into the season, Notre Dame’s identity as an offense is starting to come into focus. It may not be what was initially anticipated at the beginning of the season, but being able to reassess and adjust on the fly and still find success is the mark of both a good football team and a coaching staff that knows what it’s doing.

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