As much criticism as Drew Pyne and Tommy Rees received for Notre Dame’s ground-bound offense last season, much of that approach was due to a reality beyond their control.
The former Irish quarterback and offensive coordinator could not run the routes or catch the passes. Notre Dame had few who could run the routes and among them, it seemed even fewer who could catch Pyne’s passes.
Thus, the Irish threw for fewer than 200 yards in six games, not even reaching triple digits in the 35-14 upset of Clemson to start November.
They threw 21 or fewer passes four times; raise that to 26 pass attempts and three more games qualify. Of Notre Dame’s 192 completed passes in the regular season, 35 percent of them landed in the hands of tight end Michael Mayer.