CJ Carr, Notre Dame Passing Game Showed Efficiency in Win Over Wisconsin
If you were to describe Notre Dame’s passing game on Sunday night, the word efficient would come to mind.
Junior quarterback CJ Carr finished the night 19-of-29 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. His 66 percent completion rate is exactly where he finished last season.
Carr totaled six explosive passes of at least 15 yards, but he was 0-for-2 on throws that traveled more than 20 yards downfield.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wasn’t concerned about the lack of deep shots. Wisconsin sat in zone coverage for much of the night, limiting Carr’s opportunities to push the ball vertically.
“We want to take what the defense gives us,” explained Freeman. “He did exactly what the game plan presented. We don't need to force something that's not there. That's how they played their defense, a lot of zone.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock knew the big plays in the passing game would likely come in the intermediate range given the way Wisconsin plays defense, and Carr did his job. He went 3-for-3 on throws between 10 and 19 yards downfield.
“The shots we were going to be able to take were those deep in cuts to the number one receiver to the field,” Freeman said. “And he did it. We knew we were going to have to take check downs and he did it and he made great decisions, great balls.”
Could Notre Dame have pushed the issue? Sure.
But Denbrock and Carr chose to move the chains rather than repeatedly hunt for a home run and killing drives in hopes of hitting one or two deep shots.
“If a defense is going to present us opportunities to throw deep balls and be successful, we'll do it,” stated Freeman. “We could have thrown 20 deep balls and if they're not complete, why are we doing it? Let's be smart and take advantage of what defenses are going to give us and the opportunities to throw those deep balls I'm sure will come.”
That approach also resulted in Carr spreading the ball around.
He targeted 10 different receivers, with nine players recording receptions. It would have been 10-for-10, but a holding call on Anthonie Knapp wiped out a big play to Mylan Graham.
Saturday’s game against Rice should provide an opportunity for the receivers to become even more involved and take that chemistry to another level.
That said, Freeman was more than pleased with Carr’s decisions and remains confident the ball is going to the right person.
“That's what this game plan presented,” Freeman said of Carr spreading the ball around. “They have chemistry. He has chemistry with those guys on the field. I think it's just making sure we're efficient. If that means a lot of those plays were (Jordan) Faison on the in cut, we got to throw them. If that means we got to throw checkdowns, we got to throw them.
“At the end of the day, we got to score points. I thought he did a great job of really going through his progression and making the right decision. He has a lot of chemistry and trust in those wideouts. When the opportunity comes, he'll throw it to them.”
What Carr did at a high level was find his running backs.
As Freeman mentioned, the checkdowns were there all night, and Carr showed his experience and maturity by consistently taking what Wisconsin gave him instead of putting the ball in danger.
It’s not the sexiest decision for a quarterback, but it led to big plays, especially from sophomore running back Nolan James Jr., who finished with four receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown.
“The entire running back room had a big role in the pass game, Nolan included,” Freeman explained. “It was good to see him out in space, making some guys miss, running hard. He is a talented football player. He just embraced his role and made the most of it. He had some explosive plays, and so he's doing a phenomenal job.”
And that might be the biggest takeaway from Carr’s performance.
Notre Dame didn’t need him to turn Sunday night into a highlight-reel passing performance. The Irish needed him to make the right decision, take what Wisconsin was willing to give him and avoid putting the offense in bad situations.
Carr did exactly that.
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