Notre Dame Bludgeons Arkansas 56-13 as CJ Carr and Defense Deliver Statement Win
A week ago, Notre Dame had its get-right game in a 56-30 victory against Purdue, securing win No. 1 of the year.
The performance was far from perfect against Purdue, but it’s what Notre Dame needed.
Fast forward a week and Notre Dame made a statement by bludgeoning Arkansas 56-13 on Saturday.
Notre Dame scored touchdowns on eight of its 10 drives, including a flawless 6-for-6 start in the first half to take a commanding 42–13 lead into the break. Yet the postgame locker room didn’t feel like a celebration.
“It was a step in the right direction,” stated Notre Dame QB CJ Carr. “I thought we handled the end of that first half really well, put two touchdowns back on the board, and then the next step is how can we come out of half and start faster than we did? The middle eight is so important, and I thought we took a step in the right direction today for sure.”
The drive out of the half was the only blemish from the offense as Arkansas’ defense got a quick three-and-out, until Notre Dame ran a fake punt that saw Jordan Faison hit Malachi Fields for a 40-yard gain.
Notre Dame executed the play, but it also served as a message of confidence from head coach Marcus Freeman.
“It's awesome,” explained Carr. “I just think the trust Free has in us to do our jobs is unbelievable. We came out on one of the fourth downs later in the first half, and it wasn't a conversation. It was like, all right, we're going for it. I trust you guys. You're the group I want on the field. So that trust means the world to the offense.”
Carr rewarded that confidence with the best performance of his young career, completing 22-of-30 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns.
In fact, Carr may have overshadowed Notre Dame’s backfield. It's strange to say, given Notre Dame has been so dependent on the run game in recent year and the two-headed monster of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for six touchdowns for the second straight week.
Love tallied four scores, while Price had two, but the second was the dagger in the game and maybe the tenure of Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman.
Price caught a simple swing pass in the flat and then weaved his way through traffic to score from 34 yards out.
“With Jadarian and J-Love in the back, those little screens, you don't know what can happen. I feel like we've seen Jadarian do that his whole career here. I remember with Purdue last year, it's like end of the half, we're going to run a midzone to the left, and he breaks it for 60 yards. It's like at any point, those two can take these balls as far as they need to go.”
The 641-yard offensive outburst was impressive, but perhaps more encouraging was the defense’s response.
Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green entered the game as the nation’s leader in total offense. Notre Dame never let him become a factor.
The key? Attention to detail, according to captain Adon Shuler.
“Just attention to detail,” stated Shuler. “Definitely, coaches and players had to harp on just details and finishing. And kind of knowing when we're in situations and having a lot of young guys playing. So just keeping them confident, keeping their confidence up, and just telling them that when you're out there, you're going to win.”
At a minimum, Notre Dame’s defense will gain much-needed confidence following Saturday’s performance.
Did the Irish learn anything over the last week of practice? Yes, but Freeman didn’t feel the defensive success centered around one specific detail.
“I wish I could tell you this is one thing,” Freeman stated. “It's a choice that everybody has to make that this is us. It's not Chris Ash’s, it's not Marcus. It's one. It's all of ours. We own this thing, and if you have that mentality, then you're willing to fix it. If you wanna pass blame, then you're never gonna do the things it takes to fix it.”
Notre Dame’s defensive leaders have stepped up, including a players-only meeting days before they played Purdue.
“I knew the leaders on the defense wouldn't point the finger,” explained Freeman. “They would point it at themselves and I was very confident that they would stay together and it was a challenging week. It's easy to pass the blame, that's the easy thing to do, right? That's the default thing to do, but they stuck together.”
There is still work to do as the Irish gave up 11 explosive plays, but it was far less yardage compared to Texas A&M.
Arkansas had five big passing plays that totaled 120 yards, which isn’t ideal, but far from Mario Craver topping 200 yards by himself two weeks ago.
“There were a couple of explosive plays that Arkansas converted,” said Freeman. “They're a good offense, right? As they're coming into this game, they're top five in the country. I think it was the ability to say, OK, we can't give up the explosive.
“There were some explosive runs that we obviously can't have, but I didn't think they gave up really too many of the explosive passes. I think the game plan was simple enough that they could execute at a fast level. Played it with great technique and played with passion.”
The Fighting Irish also won the turnover battle 2-0. Shuler forced the fumble, which led to Price’s 34-yard score just before the half, and it was a direct reflection of listening to the defensive staff.
"The whole week, we kind of talked about how we need to get the ball,” said Shuler. “We needed to be plus two. That's kind of been the focus for me as a leader, just talking about it on the sideline.
“We've got to get the ball and I have a finite focus on the ball. We knew that they were a team that fumbled the ball a lot.”
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