All reports of Notre Dame’s Gator Bowl preparations on campus said he was a sophomore. Tyler Bucher was in line to return to the starting lineup for Friday’s game.
As the team arrived in Jacksonville, Florida on Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed that this will be the plan for the Irish (8-4).
As we go down here and get closer to game time, on the depth chart, Tyler will be with those and Steve Angeli will be with both, Ron Bowlus (III) with the three,” Freeman told reporters Monday before the team’s first practice.
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Due to travel delays across the country, all of the No. 21 Notre Dame players, who were cleared to return home for the Christmas weekend, arrived in Jacksonville in time for Monday’s practice. afternoon, but Buchner was there to take on the first-team representatives. Buchner and rookie Angeli sometimes took on first-team reps earlier this month.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Buchner missed Notre Dame’s final 10 regular-season games with a left shoulder injury that required surgery. Buchner was injured against Marshall in a second straight loss to start the season. Buchner was Notre Dame’s leading passer and passer in the first two losses of the season at Ohio State, 21-10, and at home to Marshall, 26-21.
Buchner completed 28 of 50 passes (56%) for 378 yards without a touchdown and two interceptions in the first two starts of his career. He also rushed 24 times for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
Buchner’s return to the training ground was so successful that the offensive coordinator Tommy Ree said the Notre Dame practice on Dec. 13. 4 was one of Buchner’s strongest practices he had in his two years with the program.
“He’s been great,” Freeman said of Buchner on Monday. “He’s progressing after not playing football for so many weeks. Every day he gets better day by day in his decision making – just get back out there and have live reps.
“Obviously he’s not getting hit. He’s in the red (jersey). Our quarterbacks are all in the red. Having him there to get live reps has been really good.”
Junior Drew Pyne started the last 10 games for Notre Dame, but chose to enter the transfer portal after being told by the coaching staff that he would be looking to bring a transfer quarterback into the program to compete for starting position next season. Pyne has since signed with Arizona State.
The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Angeli played seven snaps in two games: UNLV and Syracuse. All seven games were directed by someone other than Angeli.
Angeli signed with Notre Dame as a three-star recruit from Oradell (NJ) Bergen Catholic. Rivals dropped him from their ranking of the top 30 pro-style quarterbacks of the class of 2022. He was ranked New Jersey’s 14th-best prospect in his category.
No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) arrived Sunday in Jacksonville before his first practice Monday morning. The two teams meet Friday at TIAA Bank Field at 3:30 p.m. EST (ESPN).
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