Who will start at quarterback for Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech: Jack Coan or Drew Pyne?

The quarterback position remains a week-long mystery for the No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish as they inch closer to kickoff on Saturday night against the Virginia Tech Hokies on the road. Head coach Brian Kelly told reporters earlier this week he knows who the starting quarterback is but will not release that information to the public till game time.

The two candidates at quarterback are Jack Coan and Drew Pyne. Coan is a Wisconsin Badgers transfer and started all five games to this point of the season for the 4-1 Irish. He is completing 61.1% of his passes for 1,100 yards with 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

While Coan has started, Pyne has finished the last two games due as Coan was injured against Wisconsin and was benched in last weekend’s loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats. In those two games in relief, Pyne completed 50% of his passes for 224 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Neither Coan or Pyne have been much of a rushing threat, which is why freshman Tyler Buchner could continue to see limited snaps under center as a quarterback could do some damage with his legs.

Notre Dame would benefit with a more mobile quarterback given how bad the offensive line has been through the first five games of the season. That unit is still trying to replace a ton of NFL talent without a lot of experience and whoever lines up at quarterback should be ready to face some pressure from Virginia Tech.

This line has moved back and forth throughout the week on DraftKings Sportsbook, but Notre Dame is now listed as a 1-point favorite with the over/under set at 47. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ACC Network.