Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees almost made Drew Pyne cry for lackluster start

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees laid into quarterback Drew Pyne, who looked like he could cry, after the Irish started wobbly against Cal.

An 0-2 start to the 2022 season, everyone at Notre Dame is feeling the heat. A less-than-ideal start against Cal didn’t cool anything down.

The Irish offense looked inept under the control of backup quarterback Drew Pyne, who had to step in as the starter on Saturday for the injured Tyler Buchner.

Pyne was bad. He shorted his first attempt and overthrew Michael Mayer on third down. He looked overwhelmed by the occasion.

While Mayer showed Pyne support on the sidelines, the broadcast caught offensive coordinator Tommy Rees taking a more harsh approach.

Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees almost made Drew Pyne cry

The moment was only amplified because the broadcast had featured a segment before Pyne’s first drive about how he grew up a Notre Dame fan and had dreamed of this moment.

Comparing those dreams to the reality of being yelled at by his coach after a disastrous first drive explains why Pyne looked so emotional.

Sadly for the quarterback and the Irish, things didn’t get much better. After punts on the first four drives of the game, Pyne fumbled a snap and watched as Cal capitalized on a touchdown.

Pyne did come back to lead a touchdown drive after that, but even getting to deliver his 21-yard score to Pyne took some incredible luck of the Irish. Notre Dame had settled for a field goal attempt, which was missed. The refs bailed them out by calling a phantom offsides, extending the drive.

At halftime, ND trailed Cal 10-7. Pyne was 7-of-12 for 57 yards and a touchdown. That stat line does little to tell the whole ugly story of the half.

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