When was the last time you felt this comfortable with and confident in a Notre Dame quarterback? Ian Book? DeShone Kizer? Brady Quinn?
There certainly has never been a time like this in the Marcus Freeman era. Two years ago, Sam Hartman was a fan favorite, but his play never looked right after the Ohio State game. Riley Leonard became a legend of his own last season, but he did so with toughness and not efficient leadership of the offense.
Four games into his career as a starter, CJ Carr has won my vote of confidence. Each and every week, he’s performed above expectations, steering the Notre Dame offense to an average of 44 points per game. Oh, by the way, he and the Irish have played two clear-cut playoff contenders in Miami and Texas A&M.
Many Notre Dame fans have already anointed Carr the next great one, a potential Heisman Trophy winner or a future first-overall draft pick. And while I completely understand their excitement about No. 13, I don’t know that I’m there yet. When Carr has his first subpar game and bounces back the next week, I’ll be sold on him as a candidate for true greatness.
For now, here’s what I’ll say about Carr: Where is he in national conversations? I get that, unlike the big names of Arch Manning, John Mateer and Julian Sayin, he’s already lost two games. Can’t we realize, though, that neither of those losses lay at the feet of Carr? Other than one untimely pick at Miami, the freshman has done everything right. What’s even more impressive is that he’s improving every week.
Through Week Five of the college football season, Carr ranks second only to the University of Southern California’s Jayden Maiava in quarterback rating. Last week against Purdue, he finished with what would have been a perfect NFL passer rating of 158.3. This week against Arkansas, he cleared the 150 benchmark once again, all while playing morning football in an SEC environment.
When you watch Carr play, you can see why his numbers are so impressive. He’s doing things that many college quarterbacks — let alone freshman college quarterbacks — cannot.
What’s struck me most is his ability to throw the ball to the boundary. Making such throws is not as easy as it might appear on television. Even if you’re slinging the ball to your wide receiver on a five-yard out route, you’ll probably have to cover at least 20 yards of lateral distance to reach the sideline from the middle of the field.
Long story short, it takes some serious arm strength and conviction to consistently throw the ball well to the outside. Carr has displayed both, his second quarter in Fayetteville being the perfect example. At one point, he found senior tight end Eli Raridon in tight zone coverage down the right sideline, seemingly fitting the football into a mailbox. In another instance, he converted a third down and a fourth down by making perfect rollout throws to the boundary.
Carr has also showcased an advanced ability to capitalize on opportunities presented by the defense. After the Purdue game two Saturdays ago, he mentioned that, before his deep-ball touchdown to junior wide receiver Jordan Faison, he made a signal to Faison. The call was for an out-and-up route, which allowed Faison to beat his man and score against single coverage.
Against Arkansas, it looked as if Carr was using a similar strategy time and time again. Throughout Notre Dame’s 42-point first half, the Razorbacks played an alarming amount of press on the outsides. What did Carr do with that? Take a bunch of deep shots into 1-on-1 coverage. Sometimes the pass was caught. Sometimes it fell incomplete. Once or twice it created a pass interference penalty.
What those shots did more than anything else was open up Notre Dame’s short game. The junior running back duo of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price became more and more dangerous as the day wore on, ultimately combining for six touchdowns. Arkansas also backed off on the defensive perimeter, allowing Notre Dame to easily convert a number of third and fourth downs with quick out routes.
Now, I mentioned Love and Price, and they are the one reason I can understand the lack of national appreciation shown to Carr. Notre Dame’s backfield dynamo was the story of its offense entering the season, and the duo has somehow exceeded expectations, already combining for 16 touchdowns in four games. Additionally, a lot of people probably want to see how Carr would respond with a mediocre backfield instead of the best one in college football. That’s fair.
Regardless, Carr still deserves more appreciation on a national level. He’s a freshman, for crying out loud. What he’s done through four games is in no way common, especially for Notre Dame quarterbacks.
The great news for Irish fans is that Carr won’t ever care about his Heisman odds or what’s written about him online. He’s as humble as they come, quick to recognize his teammates in good times and point the finger at himself in bad times.
Notre Dame has a special cat at quarterback, and, if nothing else, he’s South Bend’s best-kept secret.
