Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner out for season with shoulder injury; Drew Pyne to start

Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman announced Monday. Buchner suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Notre Dame’s 26-21 loss to Marshall on Saturday on the last of his 13 rushing attempts. He is expected to have surgery and Freeman projected a four-month recovery timeline.

Freeman said Buchner suffered a high-grade sprain to his AC joint in his left, non-throwing shoulder.

Buchner finished the day with 201 yards on 18-of-32 passing with two interceptions while adding 44 yards and two touchdowns, along with a successful two-point conversion, on those rushes. While the Irish offense could not find much of a rhythm at any point, his legs and ability to find junior tight end Michael Mayer regularly were about the only two aspects that did succeed.

Junior Drew Pyne stepped in for Buchner after the injury, and his second pass was intercepted by a Herd linebacker in the red zone. That was not Pyne’s first moment in a crucial backup role, having led Notre Dame in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin last year when starter Jack Coan suffered an injury. Pyne finished 2021 with two touchdowns and 224 yards on 15-of-30 passing, eventually losing his backup role to Buchner’s situational package.

Buchner finishes his first season as the Irish starter with a 56.0 percent completion rate, 378 passing yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and 62 net rushing yards with two scores.

He beat out Pyne for the starting gig this season during the first week of preseason practices, Freeman then citing Buchner’s mobility as part of his and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ reasoning, something underscored by the Irish offensive line’s