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Notre Dame Football: 3 hot takes from nail-biting win over Virginia Tech

By Danny McCormick

Oct 9, 2021; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish place kicker Jonathan Doerer (39) celebrates with offensive lineman Michael Carmody (68) and tight end George Takacs (85) after he makes the game winning field goal from the hold of punter Jay Bramblett (left) against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2021; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish place kicker Jonathan Doerer (39) celebrates with offensive lineman Michael Carmody (68) and tight end George Takacs (85) after he makes the game winning field goal from the hold of punter Jay Bramblett (left) against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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Usually things wait to get weird on the gridiron when parts of the country are sleeping with #Pac12AfterDark, but Notre Dame football and Virginia Tech helped get in on the action a little bit early Saturday night. The Irish were able to rally late in the fourth to secure a 32-29 victory over the Hokies.

Jack Coan started the game for Notre Dame and was just not good. The offense was not moving the ball at all. Just no rhythm for the Irish. Notre Dame needed a change on offense.

The Hokies were up 10-0 and Brian Kelly made that change at quarterback bringing in the highly touted freshman Tyler Buchner. It did not take Buchner long to provide a spark as he helped lead the Irish down the field on a 7 play drive for 75 yards to cut the lead to 10-7.

A few drives later Buchner led the Irish offense down the field again for a nine-play drive of 80 yards to give Notre Dame a 14-10 lead. A field goal by Virginia Tech made it a 14-13 game at halftime.

Tyler Buchner sure did not look like a freshman quarterback in the first half playing against an experienced defense and in a hostile environment.

That changed in the second half though for the freshman quarterback. Tyler Buchner threw two turnovers in the second half with one being a pick-six. On the second interception, Buchner looked to tweak his ankle as the training staff had to come to check him out.

This meant does Brian Kelly turn to Drew Pyne who played well last week in the second half against Cincinnati, or go back to the graduate transfer in Coan? The answer was Coan and it was indeed the correct one.

Coan came out and looked like a completely different quarterback than the one who started the night under center. Jack Coan helped lead the Irish down the field with two crucial drives leading to a touchdown including a wildly successful two-point conversion, and then got the offense into field goal range for a Jonathan Doerer game-winning field goal.

Here are three hot takes for Notre Dame.

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