Entering the 2025 campaign, all eyes were on Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.
The redshirt freshman had just emerged from a long quarterback battle with Kenny Minchey, one where neither appeared to separate until late in camp.
Once Carr won the job, the questions shifted: How would he handle his first road game? Could he survive back-to-back showdowns with two highly touted defenses?
Through two weeks, Carr has delivered an emphatic answer. He’s thrown for 514 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 62.9 percent of his passes. He’s been poised in big moments, leading late drives and has remained composed despite being on the biggest stage in college football.
Notre Dame quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli knows that’s not the norm for most first-time starters.
“You get thrown into the fire against two opponents like that, you don't know what you're getting out of a freshman quarterback when you put him out there for the first time,” Guidugli stated. “To respond and play with as much poise as he does, I think he's got a chance to be a really good one. I think he's going to continue to get better, and offensively we'll be better for it.”
That poise wasn’t always a given. Guidugli admitted he had concerns in the spring about how Carr would handle the ups and downs of a game. But when the lights came on, Carr has been able to process his emotions and turn into a stone-cold killer on the field.
“He's done a great job for us,” explained Guidulgi. “Going into spring, he and I had talked about just keeping his emotions under control. It's fine to play with emotion, but don't be emotional. I think outside the little snafu there before half, he's been pretty good.”
One key to Carr’s early success has been preparation. His game-day routine is likely still evolving with just two games under his belt but his attention to detail is obvious.
“You’ve got to figure out kind of what your routine is and then the routine does not alter based on a win or a loss,” Guidugli stated. “I always want to go back to the same routine. I know exactly what I'm doing. I don't get off my routine. This is my routine.
“I come in, he's got his notebook. He's charting everything out. He's on top of it. You're never going to question the guy's preparation.”
That preparation has led to Carr finding ways to stretch the field and tight end Eli Raridon has been a beneficiary of that.
Raridon found himself behind the Miami defense and Carr found him for a 65-yard play. Then, against Texas A&M, Carr found Raridon on a wheel route for 43 yards, which was schemed up on a reverse pass.
The ability to read the field has impressed Raridon as he knows how difficult it is to process information as a young player.
“I feel like he was in both games super prepared, super calm, and composed,” said Raridon. “You can just tell he seems more confident. He's super good with his reads than any quarterback I've played with. He's got a really bright future and he's such a good leader for how young he is.”
Carr has thrown two interceptions, but both are easily correctable.
In fact, Guidugli knows Carr won’t make the same mistake twice and it’s allowed them to quickly move past his turnovers.
“He comes to the sideline for me and it's like, ‘OK, let's forget about it. Here's what we're going to do next drive.’ He's pretty resilient in that way. You saw that in the Miami game, the way he bounced back from it.”
The other piece about Carr’s makeup that Guidugli loves is that he’s hard on himself and takes accountability. It’s not always easy for a young player to admit they are wrong or even know they are wrong, which puts Carr ahead of most at his age.
“I love it because he'll be the first one to admit, ‘Man, I f***** that up,’” explained Guidugli. “Or like, ‘Damn, I'm an idiot.’ It's like, ‘Alright, next play.’ Like I said, my job is to build confidence in him. Here's the looks. Here's what we expect.”
Why does taking coaching and even hard coaching easy for Carr? It comes from his desire to be great.
“CJ is the best at [taking] coaching,” stated Guildugli. “That guy wants to be the best. He wants all the information. He wants any little, f****** detail he can get that's going to give him an edge.”
That competitive fire has stood out to grad transfer receiver Malachi Fields, who has known him for just months.
“I think his confidence, his competitive spirit. Since day one, he's just been ready to go, ready to compete no matter what defense is out there, no matter who's out there, no matter who's with him.
“He's just a competitor, so he's gonna go compete. He's taking charge. He's a leader. He's commanding the offense. He's vocal. He's the guy.”
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