Tyler Buchner Heads Into The Season Opener With Experience, And Confidence
There is no safety net for the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. The glare of the spotlight will unveil everything, both glorious and gory, about the man behind center wearing the gold helmet, and that will be no different when sophomore Tyler Buchner makes his first career start as Notre Dame’s QB1 under the lights Saturday night at Ohio State.
Third year Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has walked in the shoes Buchner will Saturday at Ohio Stadium. As a true freshman in 2010, Rees started Notre Dame’s final home game of the season against 14th-ranked Utah, at Yankee Stadium against Army, led Notre Dame to a win in the Coliseum against USC and then a Sun Bol victory over Miami.
That victory over the Trojans ended an eight-game losing streak against Notre Dame's biggest rival.
A dozen years later, Rees can impart his own advice for the young players under his wing like Buchner, who will be starting for the first time in a primetime environment.
"Enjoy it,” Rees said this weekend after a Notre Dame practice. "I mean, we’re playing football at Ohio State in the first week of the season. If that doesn’t get your blood going, you better find a new sport. So, prepare so you’re confident in your ability to go out there and execute and enjoy the moment.”
Confidence has been the key word Rees has used when speaking about Buchner, who was publicly announced as Notre Dame’s QB1 on August 13. Buchner got his feet wet as a true freshman last fall by making cameo appearances in 10 games.
He totaled 35 pass attempts with 46 rushing attempts in those pop-ins off the bench as Notre Dame’s change of pace/running/package quarterback. The approach to those situations was simple: come in for a handful of plays, with the plays typically called in advance.
Buchner never had the full run of the offense at his disposal, but that was never the idea. Rees and former head coach Brian Kelly wanted to get a freshman who hadn’t played a competitive down of football in two calendar years (due to the pandemic) on the field.
One, to utilize his gazelle-like running ability that was a stark contrast to Jack Coan’s more static pocket presence. Two, to give Buchner real game experience so that the job he is now tasked with – starting on the road, under the lights, in a hostile road environment – wouldn't be too big for him.
Buchner saw action in home night game wins over USC and North Carolina, again, in smaller roles. But his most extensive experience of the season, night or day, was in Notre Dame’s 32-29 Oct. 9 win at Virginia Tech. It's the game Rees has pointed to the most when asked about any concerns about his first time starter playing in a big time road environment.
"I think that's invaluable,” Rees said of Buchner’s Virginia Tech night game experience. "I don't know how loud it's going to be, but I anticipate a great environment for college football and I think we've done a really nice job you know, from Coach (Marcus) Freeman to Coach (Harry) Hiestand and the o-line like preparing ourselves for that.
"And then there's going to be an element that we're not prepared for, because we're not in that stadium every night," continued Rees. "But (Buchner) has the experience of playing in front of a night crowd on the road in a hostile environment that provides some confidence that he can get it done.”
Freeman sporadically piped in crowd noise during training camp to help condition Buchner and the rest of the team for a fraction of what awaits them in Saturday’s 7:30 PM eastern kickoff in Columbus.
Buchner aced the first part of his offseason exam by beating out junior Drew Pyne for the starting nod. He had a good spring, followed by a summer of conditioning and film study, and then was announced as the starter in about the same time Coan was announced QB1 last year – a week into training camp. The timing of the announcement has benefited the sophomore from San Diego, Calif. as well.
"I think naming him the starter allowed me to coach him the way he needs to be coached and make sure that we're holding him to a certain standard,” Rees explained. "Him being named the starter, I told him this only raises the standard of what's expected. This doesn't make things easier. It's going to get harder from here. So, he's owned that, he's been really good.”
Buchner showed last year that he can run the ball. He has shown this offseason that he is a passer who is improved from the 60% completion percentage he had last season. But that’s in practice, the only true test of just how real that improvement is comes on game day.
There’s a checklist of tasks that Buchner will have to make on every trip to the line of scrimmage that will factor into his effectiveness. Things like getting the running backs aligned on the correct side, changing protections based on what pressure the defense is showing, and on down the line. It’s an ownership of the offense that Buchner has accepted.
"Those are very specific things that happen every day at every football training camp you'll go to,” Rees noted. "And when you get around a great quarterback that owns the offense. They're the first ones to communicate those things. I think you need to have the platform and the confidence to do that. And that was something we wanted to push for Tyler as he owned this role.”
Rees in confident in Tyler Buchner because Tyler Buchner is confident. What that looks like will be revealed for us all to see under the lights Saturday night in Columbus.
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