Facing the White-Hot Dolphins with a lousy lineup, St. Rookie were already pitted against quarterback Ian Buch when he took the field on Monday night to make his NFL debut. Perhaps unbeknownst to him, there was another factor working against him: the former Notre Dame quarterback's recent history of losing in the NFL.
The former Fighting Irish quarterback has now lost 24 consecutive NFL starts, according to ESPN Stats & Info. This sequence dates back to 2012, and is the longest such drought since 1950.
It started with Brady Quinn, who lost the last four starts of his career with the Chiefs in 2012. The baton was passed to Jimmy Clausen, who lost the last four starts of his career from 2014–15. Then it was DeShone Kizer's turn, who lost 15 starts to the Browns in 2017 as Cleveland went on to win the season.
The first start of the book's career was Night of Forgetfulness. He threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown on his second pass attempt of the night. The Saints scored zero combined yards during that stretch, on their next three drives, before receiving a field goal with less than three minutes in the half.
New Orleans went scoreless in seven second-half possessions with four punts, a turnover on the down, and an interception before the clock ran out to end the game.
Buc ended the game 12-for-20 for 135 yards and two interceptions. He was dismissed eight times, and the Saints were 0-for-12 on third down attempts.
The Saints host the Panthers in Week 17, who have lost five in a row. While it's unclear whether the book will get a chance to start over, Carolina will represent a great opportunity to end Notre Dame's questionable drought.