Introduction
Tyler Buchner (born November 7, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He previously played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
High school career
Buchner attended The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California, before transferring to Helix High School in La Mesa, California, for his senior year. He did not play football his senior year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a junior in 2019, Buchner passed for 4,474 yards with 53 passing touchdowns and 1,610 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns. He committed to the University of Notre Dame to play college football over offers from Alabama, TCU, Georgia, USC, and Michigan, among others.
College career
Football
Notre Dame
Buchner spent his first year at Notre Dame in 2021 as a backup to Jack Coan. He appeared in 10 games, completing 21 of 35 passes for 298 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Buchner competed with Drew Pyne to take over as the team's starting quarterback in 2022. He injured his shoulder during Notre Dame's loss to Marshall on September 10, 2022, and missed the remainder of the 2022 regular season. He returned to the field for Notre Dame's victory against South Carolina in the 2022 Gator Bowl.
Alabama
In 2023, he entered the NCAA transfer portal and soon transferred to the University of Alabama. In week three, Buchner started against South Florida but struggled throughout the game and was later benched in favor of Ty Simpson. Nick Saban would announce Jalen Milroe as the starter for the rest of the season. They would go on to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2023 SEC Championship Game, 27-24.
College statistics
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | 0−0 | 21 | 35 | 60.0 | 298 | 8.5 | 3 | 3 | 142.7 | 46 | 336 | 7.3 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 3 | 1−2 | 46 | 83 | 55.4 | 651 | 7.8 | 3 | 5 | 121.2 | 36 | 123 | 3.4 | 4 | |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2 | 1 | 1–0 | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 61 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 69.1 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 1 | |
| Career | 15 | 4 | 2−2 | 75 | 137 | 54.7 | 1010 | 7.4 | 6 | 8 | 119.4 | 85 | 479 | 5.6 | 8 | |
Lacrosse Transfer portal
On December 4, 2023, Buchner entered the transfer portal as a men's lacrosse player. Buchner is expected to finish the football season with Alabama during their college football playoff run before re-enrolling in the University of Notre Dame to join their lacrosse team for the 2024 season. Buchner was a high ranked lacrosse recruit in high school and had verbally committed to the University of Michigan for lacrosse in the 8th grade before eventually committing to Notre Dame for football.