Of the few public passing reps, I've seen a number of real clunkers. People got excited about his spring game performance, but if you look beyond the highlights he had a high percentage of poor throws. The pass he threw against Carolina in the red zone on our last drive was particularly ugly, but it's not remembered because he got bailed out by a generous pass interference call. But the throw scared me in thinking about where he would be if he had to take over the job now.

I'd expect to start Pyne over him next year without notable improvement in consistency.

he has made some great throws. A deep ball to Austin, and a dart to Mayer over the middle in a tight window stood out to me. The latter especially struck me.

He's also had some real ugly throws and interceptions. (Though, Pyne has just been more lucky with some balls that probably should have been picked).

I like Pyne, I like his confidence, I like his ability to come in and sling the ball around. But if Buchner doesn't beat him out next year, it'll be a real disappointment. Frankly, if Buchner hasn't beat him out by the time the post-season rolls around I'll be disappointed.

Tech and Cincinnati when he was asked to do more with the offense than just be a change of pace QB. Against USC, NC and Navy he was 5 of 5 with a TD in his limited role.

Overall he has 3 interceptions in 25 passes. Maybe he could improve if he played a whole game against a bad team, but right now he is effective in a limited role throwing play action passes on running downs and not throwing on third and long.

And Buchner stood a little taller and quieter on the deep ball than we've seen from him before. I would love to see him improve that consistency enough to take a step forward. But he's got so much noise in his motion, it's going to take some work. Kizer struggled with consistency. He would have some head scratching misses and follow it with a beautiful strike. He evidently wasn't impressing people in practice as a freshman to get buzz. So maybe Buchner can make a similar leap. But I'd take Kizer's base mechanics over Buchner's.

Granted it wasn’t much playing time, but I thought Pyne looked like a better thrower than Buchner and a better runner than Coan (obviously). I don’t follow recruiting or practice reports, so I don’t know if what I saw lines up with reality, but I was looking forward to seeing more of him after the Wisconsin game. If anything, he seemed to have more of the playbook available than Buchner has.

He’s a gamer. Seems to have a very high level of confidence. That is not to be underestimated

than Coan or Buchner. He seemed to have a better pocket presence as well. As passers, I'd rate them Pyne then Coan then Buchner.
As runners, I'd rate them Buchner then Pyne then Coan.
Pocket presence, Pyne, then Coan, then Buchner.

In his limited time, he's been a 50 percent passer. I don't recall any passes against Wisconsin, where he did go 6 of 8, that stood out as impressive. If I recall, his TD against Wisconsin was a simple, open pitch and catch slant that was a little low. He doesn't have a particularly strong arm and he doesn't seem to use his body that efficiently. That leads to inaccuracy down field. It led to an underthrow of Lenzy on his TD pass against UC, but he had a lot of space so it was a fine play for a jump ball. His best throw was probably an out to Mayer against UC that he had to throw away from the defense that had decent coverage.

On the other hand, Coan with time has been very accurate and he throws a very good deep ball. And he appears to have a stronger arm. He also, with time, has been good at anticipating where the receiver will be, like his comeback touchdown pass against SC that he threw to a spot. Yes, with pressure he has been rattled. But despite struggles, I've still seen him under pressure stand firm, step up, and make important throws when it has been crunch time. And the scheme adjustments have helped reduce his shortcomings a lot.

That said, if seen even worse throws from Buchner in the limited number of snaps. So it would take some serious work for Buchner to jump Pyne for everyday play in my eyes.

mentioning. Nor have I seen much accuracy on deep throws. He has missed a LOT of open receivers downfield, some overthrows and some underthrows. Pyne has a strong arm and a quicker release than Coan, who seems to have to wind up to throw downfield.

Every quarterback overthrows some deep balls. But Coan would rank in the top three of deep ball throwers ND has had since the Davie era. Clausen and Kizer would be the ones ahead of him. He consistently gives his guys a chance to make plays.

But keep some perspective. Coan is a 65 percent passer this season. And after we shuffled our offensive line and made scheme adjustments, he's been over 70 percent three times.

Yes, Pyne has a quicker release. That may help him in short passes. But I've seen nothing to indicate he has a strong arm that can effectively throw down the field. I'd call Coan's a solid college arm. Pyne's looks worse.

Like Bruce Banner would say “You won’t like me when I’m angry.”

And that's why Pyne is ahead of Buchner on the depth chart right now. If you need someone to run the offense for the full game, Pyne is in a better place to do that right now (though Buchner has been improving).

But by the time next fall rolls around, if Buchner can't beat out Pyne, something is wrong. That's no slight to Pyne either.

His last snaps were in the Cincy game and Buchner gets a few plays every quarter

He is.

Of course that might not be reality. But, at least so far this year, Pyne has filled Coan's role when Coan can't go, and Buchner has been more of a package or change of pace qb.

If Coan broke his leg getting off the bus, I'd guess Pyne would get the start.

for UC. Nevertheless, Pyne did fill in against Wisconsin with Buchner available.