Notre Dame Quarterback Tyler Buchner not available for the annual Blue-Gold game

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner will not play in the annual Blue-Gold game after injuring his ankle.

The first ever draft for the Blue-Gold brings excitement for the players and coaches.

Everyone expecting to see the two quarterbacks face off on Saturday won't get the chance. Buchner rolled his ankle walking down the stairs.

"Missed the bottom step, rolled his ankle and it happened 5 in the evening. We had a quarterback meeting and they left the quarterbacks meeting and it happened in the next 30 minutes," said head coach Marcus Freeman.

Former Notre Dame running back and NFL hall of famer Jerome Bettis will serve as the commissioner.

The blue team will be coached by defensive line coach Al Washington and safety Houston Griffith will be the captain.

"I’ve never been a part of a spring like this. A lot of spring games are kind of business like. Glorified practice. This definitely feels like a game," said defensive line coach Al Washington.

"We have a say on who we want. It’s not like we’re just divided and it’s blue and gold. We got to pick and like I said we got the guys I want," said Griffith.

The gold team will be coached by running backs coach Deland McCullough, with cornerback Cam Hart serving as the captain.

"I'm excited about it. It's going to be a great way to culminate the spring," said McCullough. "I feel sorry for the blue squad."

"Execution on this side. Just ball players on that side. We going to win!," said Hart.

Heading into Wednesday’s draft the talk of the town was dual threat Buchner versus the gun slinging Drew Pyne and how they would play on Saturday but now with Buchner out, those plans have changed.

Pyne will play for both the blue and gold teams on Saturday, as will some of the offensive linemen.

But there is one name that hasn’t had much traction this spring and McCullough believes he simply slipped through the cracks.

"We felt like we got a good diagnosis on Chris Tyree. He slipped a little bit. Ended up being the dark-horse," said McCullough.

A quality pick for the gold team that also drafted one of the best tight ends in football Michael Mayer.

"The goal was execution over talent because I think a great group of guys can work together and they can get the job done but there can be a lot of talent on one side but if they don’t communicate, if they don’t work together, it won’t work out," said Hart.

Regardless of which team players ended up on, the draft commissioner sees this as good competition and opportunity for the Irish.

"This is a competitive situation where guys can feel hey I got an opportunity to show some things but you also through the draft get a chance to see ok this is what the coaches think of me. So now you get an opportunity as a player to say i get a chance to show what I'm capable of," said Bettis.