re: Bama Football Tidings

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It doesn’t help that national writers are immediately pushing this idea as if there’s validity to it.

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Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner has entered the transfer portal, he announced via Twitter on Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

- Buchner beat out Drew Pyne for the team’s starting job in 2022 before suffering a shoulder injury in the second game that knocked him out for the rest of the regular season.
- Buchner returned for the team’s Gator Bowl victory, tossing three touchdowns and 273 yards.
- A four-star recruit in 2021, Buchner said in his post that “remaining at Notre Dame is thankfully an option I’m continuing to consider.”
- Notre Dame is expected to start former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman at the position in 2023. Hartman, who is expected to compete for the Heisman Trophy, transferred to South Bend after throwing for 12,967 yards and 110 touchdowns in five seasons.

What’s driving Buchner’s decision?

Playing time, because Buchner doesn’t have enough of it during his career, dating back to high school in California. In his past five seasons, Buchner has played a full campaign just once, his junior year at The Bishop’s School outside San Diego. He missed his high school sophomore year after tearing an ACL at the beginning of the year. He missed his high school senior year because COVID canceled high school sports across California.

His time at Notre Dame has been similarly volatile in terms of availability. As a freshman, he missed time with a hamstring injury but worked his way into games backing up Jack Coan as a package quarterback, operating out of what amounted to a run-first offense. As a sophomore, Buchner beat out Pyne for the starting job, but suffered a severely separated shoulder against Marshall, returning for the Gator Bowl.

His disjointed playing time has led to similarly scattered statistics, as Buchner has thrown more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (6). He’s also scored more rushing touchdowns (7) than he’s passed for the past two seasons.

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College programs have completed spring practice with some semblance of a quarterback depth chart, at least at the Power 5 level. At a school like Alabama, which employs Buchner’s primary recruiter as its offensive coordinator, the starting job is open but Tommy Rees has multiple candidates to potentially fill it. Buchner would just be another one, even if he understands the offense at a high level.

This could create an odd dynamic for Buchner depending on how much certainty he needs around playing time. Does he drop down to a lowly Power 5 program that’s desperate for help? Because jumping into another quarterback competition may not be that much better for his outlook than sticking at Notre Dame.

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Pete Thamel specifically mentioned Alabama in the headline of the article he put out.

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Gonna vomit

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