Like USC’s Mason Cobb, Thomas Harper left the Oklahoma State defense and arrived at his new school with veteran experience. He arrives in South Bend as a grad transfer with two years of eligibility. Javontae Jean-Baptiste played in 32 games for the Buckeyes over the past three seasons, including 13 games in 2021, six of eight games in 2020 and all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He should be a nice add to the Fighting Irish receiver room. Kaleb Smith caught 34 passes for 674 yards and three touchdowns in his fourth year of college ball at Viriginia Tech. Sam Hartman showed today why he was extremely successful at Wake Forest, and I think will be extremely, extremely successful here." “You look for the best player in the country that would fit in your locker room. “ When we went out to look for a transfer portal quarterback, you don't look for the second, third, fourth,” Freeman said. After a solid showing in Notre Dame’s spring game, it’s clear Hartman’s honeymoon phase is well underway. He completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,701 yards (8.6 yards per attempt) with 38 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. In 2022, Sam Hartman led the Demon Deacons to an 8-5 record. Notre Dame identified its starting quarterback and brought in the veteran from Wake Forest. Jayden Bellamy gave Notre Dame one season and moved on to Syracuse. Osita Ekwonu arrived in South Bend as a four-star in the 2019 class. He was primarily a special teams contributor and backup linebacker. The new Vanderbilt Commodore made 13 solo and six assisted tackles for Notre Dame. Prince Kollie is the only defensive loss of statistical import. Cane Berrong was a three-star signee with the Fighting Irish’s 2021 recruiting class, and he moved on to Coastal Carolina as a three-star transfer. Berrong’s departure is conspicuous because leading receiver and fellow tight end Michael Mayer moved on to the NFL Draft. He caught 30 passes for 340 yards and scored one touchdown. Lorenzo Styles was Notre Dame’s second-leading receiver last season. Like Pyne, Buchner steps into a new situation where it’s not a guarantee he starts in 2022. Tommy Rees hitched the fate of his stay in Tuscaloosa to Buchner’s star. Buchner serendipitously saw his former coordinator and lead recruiter leave Notre Dame to become Alabama’s offensive coordinator. He moved on to the Pac-12 South and will compete this fall for the starting job at Arizona State. Pyne was told in no uncertain terms the Notre Dame staff did not feel it could win a national championship with him. Buchner threw for 7.8 yards per attempt in 2022. He returned for Notre Dame’s bowl win against South Carolina and finished his season with a 55.4 completion rate, three touchdown passes and five interceptions (including two pick-sixes against the Gamecocks). Tyler Buchner started Notre Dame’s two-season opening losses before an injury in Notre Dame’s loss to Marshall opened the door for Pyne to get off the pine. He threw for eight yards per attempt and stacked 22 touchdown passes against six interceptions. Drew Pyne completed just under 65 percent of his passes in 11 games last season. Notre Dame assessed its quarterback situation and decided it needed to upgrade from its incumbents. In our roster reset on the Fighting Irish we check in and see how the rest of Freeman’s team has evolved via the transfer portal in addition to breaking down the quarterback makeover. The headlining roster moves in South Bend happened in the quarterback room. Last season, Notre Dame went 9-4 and finished with a No. The Fighting Irish commence their second full season with Marcus Freeman at the helm. A trip to Notre Dame follows on October 14. After playing Stanford, Arizona State and Colorado, the Trojans get an Arizona program in Year 3 under Jedd Fisch. USC’s first three Pac-12 conference opponents have first-year head coaches.
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