SOUTH BEND — What’s next on the lacrosse field for former Notre Dame and Alabama football quarterback Tyler Buchner?
Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said the ball is in Buchner’s court after scraping off the rust of a five-year absence and serving as a reserve midfielder for the reigning national champs this spring.
“That’s going to be up to him,” Corrigan said Sunday from Philadelphia on a conference call with reporters. “We’ll see. He’s got a long way to go to be the player ultimately that he could in this sport.”
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Buchner’s powerful shot was unleashed in the first half of Saturday’s 13-6 win over Denver, which advanced the top-ranked Irish into Monday’s championship game against No. 7 seed Maryland.
Buchner’s shot forced the Denver goalie to make a save, but Buchner also hit the final box score with a groundball and a caused turnover.
Entering Monday’s title game, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Buchner had appeared in 10 games this season, contributing three shots, three groundballs and two caused turnovers.
“I don’t know that he’s surged as much as he just consistently keeps chopping away at getting back to really recognizing the plays within our game that he can make and that he should make and that we need him to make,” said Corrigan, in his 36th year at the helm for Notre Dame lacrosse. “Right now I think that’s enough to occupy all of us, and what he becomes after this will depend on what he does with his time in the offseason.”
Buchner, who started three games at quarterback for Notre Dame in 2022 and made one start for Alabama last fall, transferred back to South Bend after Alabama’s loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff.
A former two-sport prodigy from the San Diego area who originally committed to play lacrosse for Michigan, Buchner turned 21 in November and recently completed work toward his undergraduate degree.
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Younger sister Paige Buchner did not see action as a freshman forward for Notre Dame women’s soccer last fall.
“He didn’t even have a fall to acclimate himself and get back to playing lacrosse,” Corrigan said. “He’s been playing lacrosse since Jan. 10, and that’s the first time in probably five years that he’s played any serious lacrosse.”
Buchner has two remaining years of eligibility on the football field after appearing in 10 games in 2021 as a backup to Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan, who originally committed to Notre Dame to play lacrosse.
“(Buchner) has got a big gap to cover there,” Corrigan said of Buchner’s lacrosse career, “but he’s doing a great job at keeping it manageable just by working every day towards what he needs to be capable to do to help our team right now.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.
