Quick-hitters: Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman on naming Tyler Buchner QB1, wide receivers, team captains

Notre Dame made its quarterback decision after seven preseason practices. The body of work head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees evaluated to arrive at tabbing Tyler Buchner QB1, though, goes back months. Back to last fall, even.

“This was not a seven-practice decision,” Freeman said. “This is something that we looked at last year, looked at spring, looked at the summer and start of fall camp. We just felt like it was time. It was time to give the offense clarity on who’s going to be the starting quarterback.”

Buchner will start the opener at Ohio State without his most experienced receiver. Graduate student Avery Davis suffered a torn ACL during practice Friday, Freeman said. Graduate student receiver Joe Wilkins Jr., though, is expected to be back for the opener. Sophomore receiver Deion Colzie has a PCL sprain, per Freeman, but is not expected to miss significant time.

Freeman also noted sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie has a concussion and has missed the last few practices.

Freeman spoke with reporters Saturday following the team’s practice in Notre Dame Stadium. Here are some of the topics he addressed.

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On Davis’ ACL tear

“Heartbroken for the kid. He was coming back from an ACL injury on his other knee. He was running a jet sweep yesterday, planted and just went down. We didn’t think initially it would be as bad as it was. After the MRI, found out it was an ACL. Just devastating for the kid.

“I spent some time with him in his apartment yesterday. What do you say to a kid in that moment? He had just come back from an ACL injury and tear of the other one. I wanted him to know he’s important to this program. Whatever we can do to support him, we will.”

On the Notre Dame wide receiver room without Davis

“The outlook on that room is still very good. We have some guys who have to step up. You’re going to have to see Lorenzo Styles, [Jayden Thomas], Deion Colzie and Tobias Merriweather. You’re going to have to see Matt Salerno step up. What it does is creates more roles and a bigger responsibility for those guys in the room.”

REALTED: More Notre Dame football:

• Projecting Tyler Buchner’s production: How the last five Notre Dame sophomore QBs have fared as starters

• How Notre Dame might get creative with DT Howard Cross III, who continues to wreak backfield havoc

On leadership from the offensive and defensive line

“To start fall camp, I challenged the O-line and D-line. I said we need our biggest guys to be our best leaders. That means the offensive line and defensive line. When you really study the great teams, when those teams have those big guys up front who are intimidating and who are the best leaders, that’s a special team.

“I’ve challenged [Jarrett Patterson], [Josh] Lugg, [Isaiah] Foskey, Jayson Ademilola, Rylie Mills, all those big guys. You have to be our alpha males. It starts up front. We’re an O-line and D-line driven program. I say it every time I meet with him. Does it entail you have to lead because you have a young quarterback? That’s part of it. To me, I always want our program to be led by our O-line and D-line.”

On the competition for one safety spot opposite Brandon Joseph

“DJ [Brown] and Houston [Griffith] are still battling. Ramon [Henderson] is having a good camp. Xavier Watts is having a good camp. That’s the beauty of it. I told the whole team today we decided to name a quarterback because it’s good for the offense and we were ready to name him. It’s the most publicized position in our program.

“But there are a lot of guys in our program going through those same type of battles. And at some point, we’re going to have to make a decision. The ability for those guys to still support each other, still push each there and make themselves better is what we need.”

On the running backs

“Audric [Estime] had a really good day today. He’s been a powerful, tough runner. Logan [Diggs] is still in red. He hasn’t been live yet. Until we get him out of that red jersey and get him live reps – we know what Logan Diggs can do, but we need to get him some reps getting hit. Chris Tyree brings a versatile element to our offense. Gi’Bran Payne has shown he fits in with those other guys.”

On a timeline for naming team captains

“We haven’t named captains for this season yet, but you have two guys who are returning captains with Avery and J-Patt. Obviously Avery went down, but that’s why I wasn’t in a rush. Those guys are still captains. We’ll name captains in the next week or two weeks before Ohio State game.”