CJ Carr Exceeding Expectations as Notre Dame’s Offense Finds Its Rhythm

CJ Carr entered the year with high expectations and the redshirt freshman has exceeded those through seven games.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,758 yards, 14 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Carr has thrown for over 300 yards twice and has three games over 220 yards this season.

There have been growing pains at times, but Carr has embraced the learning curve and taken each lesson in stride. His biggest takeaway so far? Setting the tone, regardless of what the defense does.

“There's a lot,” Carr said of what he’s learned since the Miami game. “It's just the ability to not let the defense dictate what you're doing is a huge thing that I've learned. I'm continuing to try and just ingrained in my mind that we're going to be on the attack and we're going to try and put as many points on the board as we can and that the defense can play whatever they want. If we're attacking and moving forward and firing on all cylinders, we're hard to stop.”

The other piece of Carr’s game is eliminating the few mistakes he’s made. Most of those mistakes would simply fall into the growing pains category.

Carr’s pick against USC was likely the one that stands out as every quarterback should know not to throw the ball, but it’s also a moment he bounced back from.

“I think it's just the consistency in the way our offense plays and communicates and executes,” Carr stated when asked where he can improve. “When we're firing on all cylinders, we're the best offense in the country and we’re really hard to stop. It’s just eliminating the self-inflicted mistakes and continuing to just progress.”

USC’s defense also likely tested Carr a little bit as the Trojans scheme didn’t allow many deep shots. What it did allow was for the Irish to rush for over 300 yards, which was fine with Carr.

“I thought that was an interesting way to attack us,” Carr stated. “I think you understand, looking at our depth chart and seeing the receivers we have, but they really did kind of stay back in that two-high zone and started to play a little man towards the end of the game.

“Once you feel that after the first two or three drives, it's like, OK, just keep taking what they give you and don't force anything, just keep running the ball. You have the two best running backs in the country and they're going to let you run the ball. We can do that with our eyes closed.”

Notre Dame started a new center against USC and will start a new left guard on Saturday at Boston College.

It’s far from ideal, but Carr used Notre Dame’s bye week practices to get on the same page with his new linemen and believes they’ll be ready to go on Saturday.

“I think it helped a lot just to not only get those guys healthy and moving a little faster, but also to give them some opportunity to get ahead on the week's prep,” said Carr.

The Michigan native is fresh off a bye week and he treated it differently than the first off week in week two.

“The first week was a hard one just because you were coming off a loss, a difficult-fought battle,” explained Carr. “I stayed around here for the first bye week and just continued to prep for Texas A&M and then you go six more weeks in the season, and it's a long season.

“It's going fast, but the weeks can weigh on you a little bit. I know that the guys all really enjoy just having a few days off to decompress and hang out with the family and get ready for a good Boston College team.”

Carr made the trip home to see family and get away from Notre Dame football for a few days, which was much needed.

“I went to my brother's high school football game, so it was different being a spectator versus actually being in the game,” stated Carr. “That was a cool experience to be able to watch and not have the pressure of being out there playing. I'm excited. The guys are all excited to be back and ready to go.”

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman also made sure to meet with his quarterback during the bye as they usually do.

The conversation centered around evaluating Carr’s game against USC and what decisions he’d make if he finds himself in the same situation in the future.

“He has done a wonderful job in his first seven games,” said Freeman. “He's a first-time quarterback in terms of leading this offense, in terms of what he has on his plate. He's done a tremendous job, and there's more. That's the exciting part. There's more to his game that I'm looking forward to seeing how he continues to elevate in these next couple of games.”

CJ CARR PASSING CHART