Things have gone from bad to worse for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and first-year head coach Marcus Freeman.
During their shocking home defeat to the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday afternoon, quarterback Tyler Buchner went down late after taking a hard hit to the shoulder.
Today, Freeman announced that Buchner suffered a high-grade shoulder sprain, which will require surgery that’ll keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Drew Pyne Next Up For Notre Dame
With the injury to Buchner, the Irish will be turning to sophomore Drew Pyne, who was in a competition with Buchner all summer.
Pyne saw some game action last season, completing 15 of 30 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns while receiving playing time on two separate occasions.
“I don’t see the offense changing extreme amounts,” Freeman said when asked about the transition from Buchner to Pyne on Monday morning.
Even if Pyne is more capable than most backup quarterbacks across the country, things aren’t exactly going according to plan in South Bend this season.
Despite the lofty expectations, Freeman’s squad now finds themselves in a position where they have to look in the mirror and do some soul searching after coming out of the gates 0-2 to start the season.
Either the Irish will completely let the season get away from them, or they’ll show some fight given their unfortunate reality. For now, Freeman is willing to take the blame for the rough start to the season:
“It starts with me as a head coach and looking at myself and saying, ‘What do I have to do to help this football team’ and really look at everything we’re doing, because the performance isn’t where we need it to be.”
