Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner likely to miss rest of season after shoulder injury
By Bryan Ke
University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting quarterback Tyler Buchner will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder during a game over the weekend.
Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman confirmed Monday that the Asian American sophomore suffered a severe AC joint sprain in his left shoulder during the fourth quarter of their match against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday.
Freeman said their star quarterback would need surgery for the injury and might require months of recovery, pushing junior Drew Pyne to take over Buchner’s role during the period.
“The expected recovery time is about four months,” Freeman said Monday. “We can all do that math. That probably puts us somewhere in mid-January.”
Pyne, who was three for six against Marshall with a touchdown pass and an interception, will serve as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback in the team’s home game against California on Saturday. Buchner, 19, beat out Pyne for the starting position during the training camp in August.
“As I said when we addressed the quarterback competition in fall camp, I had the utmost confidence in both of those guys to be able to lead our offense and lead our football team,” Freeman said. “We are still very positive and optimistic about our future moving forward.”
“Drew made it extremely difficult. Those guys both can give us a chance to win both of them,” Freeman told reporters. “We just think that Tyler brings an element… a dynamic element with his feet, the ability to extend plays to have a QB running game that really added into this decision.”
During his debut as starting quarterback against Ohio State on Sept. 3, Buchner had 10 completions on 18 attempts for 177 yards, which were career-bests according to his Notre Dame bio.
Featured Image via @NDFootball
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