Marcus Freeman: We got ourselves a quarterback

Notre Dame may not have gotten the result they wanted in their opening game versus Ohio State, falling 21-10 to the Buckeyes. But head coach Marcus Freeman still was impressed and pleased with the play of his quarterback Tyler Buchner in his first career collegiate start.

“I was pleased, for a second-year guy in his first collegiate start in that type of environment and in that type of game, I was really pleased. I think at one point in the first half Tyler was eight of eight, but like eight of ten in the first half or something like that, that’s really good,” Freeman said. “They had sent me some number for a QB rating, I don’t know much about QB rating so I told them I can’t use that, but I was really pleased.”

Buchner may not have put up a lot of points for the Irish, but finished the game throwing for an efficient 10-18 with 177 yards in the air and 18 yards on the ground.

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“And the other thing is zero turnovers and the plays he was able to make with his legs, and he got beat up now. And we knew going in that game that were gonna have to run Tyler Buchner, that’s not our plan every week, but we knew that game in order to try to establish maybe some run game we were gonna have to run him a little bit, and he got hit and continued to get up and keep going,” Freeman said.

Buchner’s role in Notre Dame’s run game may vary throughout the season, but on Saturday and last season, in his limited snaps, showed promise as a playmaker with his legs. Last year on 46 rush attempts, Buchner averaged 7.3 yards per carry and 33.6 yards on the ground per game with three touchdowns.

Freeman revealed all the reasons why Buchner’s play on the field was encouraging, but off the field, he was also impressed with the leadership he showed on Saturday, and made it very clear that Buchner shouldn’t be looking over his shoulder anytime soon.

And they said on the sidelines that he was the leader, he was getting guys going and positive and I mean we got ourselves a quarterback,” Freeman said.

Hopefully for the Irish, Buchner can continue his efficient play and add some scoring to his stat line as they take on Marshall Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in their home opener.