Notre Dame QB Buchner expected to miss season
Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with an injury to his nonthrowing shoulder that will require surgery.
Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman said Monday that Buchner has a severe AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. Buchner was injured in the fourth quarter of Notre Dame’s surprising loss to Marshall over the weekend and was scheduled to have surgery Tuesday.
“The expected recovery time is about four months,” Freeman said. “We can all do that math. That probably puts us somewhere in midJanuary.”
Drew Pyne, who came off the bench after Buchner was hurt, was listed as the starter on Notre Dame’s depth chart for this Saturday’s home game against California. Against Marshall, he went 3 for 6 with a touchdown pass and an interception.
In August, Pyne entered training camp competing for the starting quarterback position but lost the job to Buchner after practice No. 7.
“As I said when we addressed the quarterback competition in fall camp, I had the utmost confidence in both of those guys to be able to lead our offense and lead our football team,” Freeman said. “We are still very positive and optimistic about our future moving forward.”
Pyne is 20 for 39 for 256 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in five career games.
Notre Dame is off to an 0-2 under first-year coach Freeman after beginning this season ranked fifth in the country. as the favorite to win the national championship hardly looked the part in the 20-19 victory in Austin on Saturday, especially on offense.
For the now secondranked Crimson Tide’s coach Nick Saban, the positive takeaways are an abundance of lessons and an early demonstration that his team can handle adversity.
“There’s a tremendous amount of things that we can learn from as a team,” Saban said after the game. “What I told them was if you practice hard the game is easy. If you don’t push yourself in practice, the game becomes hard.”
That one became hard thanks partly to an array of self-inflicted wounds, including a whopping 15 penalties. Only a Bryce Youngled drive in the final minutes and Will Reichard’s game-winning field goal rescued Alabama from defeat on a day when Notre Dame and Texas A&M both went down. Defending national champion Georgia replaced the Tide atop the rankings.
Safety DeMarcco Hellams said losing the No. 1 spot isn’t so important in September.
“We have self-motivation,” Hellams said Monday. “We don’t need any (outside) motivation here. The poll doesn’t matter to us. All that matters to us is going 1-0 every week. It doesn’t matter where you’re ranked until the end of the season.”
But as Saban said, “sometimes even when you win, you can lose” and cited the importance of accountability team-wide. Better to learn those lessons early than late.
There were bright spots. Alabama hit its stride in the fourth quarter with 10 of its 16 first downs. The defense held Texas star tailback Bijan Robinson to 57 yards on 21 carries. Alabama backup runner Jase McCellan provided a big-play spark when the passing game couldn’t, scoring on an 81-yard run.
And a penalty-free fourth quarter with the game on the line could have been pivotal.
“I guess it’s the fear of losing,” Gibbs said of the fourth-quarter turnaround. “We don’t like to lose.”
And so far, they haven’t lost anything except that No. 1.
South Carolina loses defenders for season
South Carolina lost starting linebacker Mohamed Kaba and backup defensive end Jordan Strachan for the season after both suffered ACL injuries during a weekend loss at Arkansas.
Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer announced the status of both players Monday, two days after the 44-30 loss to the Razorbacks. It’s a huge blow for a South Carolina defense that faces No. 1 Georgia at home Saturday.
Kentucky's Rodriguez to sit out next 2 games
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said that leading rusher Chris Rodriguez Jr. will return from an unspecified absence on Oct. 1 for the No. 9 Wildcats’ Southeastern Conference matchup at No. 20 Mississippi.
Stoops announced Rodriguez’s return during Monday’s weekly news conference but did not state a reason for the running back’s absence that will keep him out for upcoming non-conference games against FCS Youngstown State on Saturday and Mid-American Conference member Northern Illinois.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty in July to driving under the influence, and discipline was expected, but Stoops has said only that the 1,300yard rusher was “unavailable” but not suspended and did not specify how his status was being determined.
Pressed further on Monday, the 10th-year coach would not comment and added that Rodriguez “will be back at Ole Miss.”
— Eric-Paul Johnson