Irish have offered a DE from Utah State (ByronVaughns) , he would be a Grad Transfer. He has multiple Power 5 offers so NIL money might be a factor as it was in the W.Michigan kid we lost out to FSU. Looking at the snap counts for the game, the OL with the exception of Patterson played all 80 snaps with no substitutions. Patterson had a calf cramp and sat out 1 play. Now that's great and it was no doubt a big reason why we were able to run the ball so well in the 2nd half and wore down the South Carolina defense. But at least to me, it would have been great for some of the backups who we are going to count on as starters got to play. We definitely needed to win the game so I don't blame the staff for not giving those guys a chance. But if we could have afforded to take a chance that we'd lose then playing those guys a lot would have been a good thing for the OL next year.
My takeaway is that when the big uglies are able to assert their collective will late in the 4th quarter, it's a clear sign that we are a very well conditioned team. Re: not playing OL backups. I'm not concerned. In most cases, unlike skill players, OL recruits rarely come on board expecting to be on the field in their first or second seasons. Many need a full year or two to grow and develop via spring practice and as scout team OL. I trust our highly reputed OL coach to know if and when a OL is ready to be on the field. I'm guessing he knows exactly who will play and where if an OL goes down. If our OL depth chart is where it should be, we shouldn't be caught short experience-wise. Time will tell if my thoughts are valid.
Actually, Angeli was my favorite over PYNE at the time, and still would be if Pyne hadn't transferred. After watching the bowl game I've kinda had to reconsider my thinking of TB. The comments about him starting off 0-2 should be tempered a little as I'm pretty sure Pyne wouldn't have won those games either because our O-Line and run game wasn't rolling yet. I still see so much upside with Buchner that none of the other QBs including Hartman has. I just don't know if we have the time or patience to develop him.
2 — One-Man Show: Not entirely, but look at Tyler Buchner’s performance on third down Friday—irrespective of the oft-discussed interception touchdown and ill-advised shovel attempt that was tipped and picked as well. 3-1: Buchner +1 sneak 3-15: Buchner 18 yard pass Evans 3-9: Buchner 15-yard keeper touchdown 3-4: Buchner 15-yard RPO pass Thomas 3-12: Buchner 14-yard pass Thomas 3-7: Buchner 12-yard slant Lenzy 4-4: Lenzy 20-yard rush (fake punt) 3-2: Diggs 39-yard TD run 3-1: Buchner 4-yard run 3-5: Buchner 9-yard flair pass Tyree 3-2: Buchner 16-yard TD pass Evans Buchner directly impacted 10 of the 12 third-fourth down conversions with one occurring on special teams.
Terry, that's a phenomenal analysis. I knew he was playing an excellent game, except for the two plays you mentioned, but I had no idea he was so highly effective. Give Tommy Rees credit for the play calls, and definitely give Buchner credit for the execution. Do you mind if I copy and paste this info to an email to my son and a couple of ND friends? I don't want to violate any copyright ownership.
From Irish Sports Daily The reason why Sam Hartman would be such an important addition to the program is what he did to help elevate the offense at Wake Forest. They finished 12th in OF+ in back to back seasons. They were 12th with less raw talent on their roster than Florida Atlantic. They had lesser recruited talent on their roster than Colorado. They aren’t close to that good without Hartman. Notre Dame has to land him and then there is a lot more that has to happen with their roster to compete for a national championship, but they’ll be taking a big step forward towards elevating their offense if Hartman is their quarterback.
One time someone said "when you've lost Walter Cronkite"..... Today Mike Brey has lost Tim Prister... • When I think of…the state of Notre Dame basketball, the time has come to begin the process of finding a head-coaching successor as Notre Dame fell to 0-4 in conference play with another close loss Tuesday night at Boston College The Irish – one of the oldest teams in the country in Mike Brey’s 23rd year – continue to compete. They’ve lost two one-point ACC games as well as 11- and seven-pointers that were closer than the final score indicated. But their inability to close out games has become an acute problem. Against the Eagles, the Irish were the better team until the waning moments when Boston College went on a 10-0 run. Without any kind of consistent defensive presence, poor rebounding, and little depth – now compounded by an injury to impressive freshman forward Ven-Allen Lubin – the odds of rebounding from a slow start as Brey’s Irish have done in the past is very unlikely. The spirit of this veteran team has to be on the verge of breaking. With the loss of Nate Laszewski, Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, Trey Wertz and Marcus Hammond after this season, a total rebuild is necessary, even if they hold on to Lubin and standout guard JJ Starling. In a time in which player movement is so fluid, there’s no guarantee the Irish will be able to hold onto those two young standouts.
Well, I guess they took a big step. We'll see. Gotta think he'll be even better with a good O-line and run game. Definitely need to get out of that slow mesh crap.
I really think Angeli would be first to transfer not Buchner. Unfortunate as far as I'm concerned as I really felt Angeli may have been good and he absolutely loves ND. But what do I know?
Re Buchner: when watching him play, especially in comparison to Pyne, I'm reminded of JOCO's old saying/rule, "He can do things physically that the other boys can't do."