As most college football programs began their seasons last week, so too did many players begin their campaigns for the Heisman Trophy.
CJ Carr, the preseason odds-on favorite to win the award via FanDuel Sportsbook, perhaps didn't have the most eye-popping day, but that’s not to say it was lackluster either.
Carr finished his Labor Day with a final statline of 19/29 for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns.
If you remember from last week’s article that I wrote, Carr’s statline is somewhat reminiscent of Caleb Williams’s week one performance against, as it so happens, Rice.
Am I saying that because Carr and Williams had a similar box score line at the end of the game that Carr is definitely on his way to bringing Notre Dame its first Heisman Trophy since Tim Brown did so in 1987?
No.
I am bringing the comparison because the world of college sports loves to hand out the so-called ‘September’ Heisman.
Most teams and players have seen the field once, maybe twice, this season, and people have reacted by already naming their Heisman Trophy winner after one or two games.
However, single-game performances factor into player of the game awards or player of the week awards.
The Heisman Trophy is a season-long award, so one bad, so-so or even amazing performance will factor into the race, but there’s still 11 more games to be played.
If you also remember what I said Carr probably needed to do to get off on a solid pace to start his campaign, I said “Carr simply needs to pick up where he left off in 2025 and build from there.”
In many ways, Carr did that even if it didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.
Notre Dame quarterback coach Gino Guidugli explained what Carr did well that may not have shown up in the final box score.
“I thought his clock management was great,” said Guidugli. “There were a couple times when the clock was going down and maybe the call came in or the headset cut off. I thought he managed those situations great. I thought that after the first series he responded pretty well.”
Carr’s maturation over the spring and summer might have also kept him from securing another passing touchdown on what ended up being an Aneyas Williams rushing score.
“On the Aneyas Williams touchdown at the end, that was a pass play,” said Guidugli. “If you go watch it, there's a bunch set to the field. They run around and he checked the play to a run because ‘Coach, it was zone coverage. We had a great Salem look. I just checked the Salem.’ My only word of advice was like, ‘Hey, you might want to tell those guys. But now, it's on tape. People are going to look at that like, what are they doing here? They're running around. He's handing the ball off.”
“It was a pass play. He checked to a run and you got a chance to throw a touchdown. You're CJ Carr. Everybody's talking about you for the Heisman. You check it to a run play. That's a pretty unselfish play. You know what I mean?”
Another reason why Carr’s performance was one that didn’t light up the stat sheet is that Wisconsin made it difficult for the Irish passing offense to attack downfield, a specialty of Carr’s game.
“He's aggressive by nature, and he wants to throw the ball down the field,” said Guidugli. “He wants to force the ball in the tight windows. There's not a throw that he doesn't think he can't make, and that was kind of like one of the objectives going into the game. It's like, ‘Hey, they're going to play high in coverage. Hey, they're going to close the middle of the field. We got to be willing and be patient enough to continue to take the checkdowns, and if we do that enough, eventually they're going to get tired of giving that up, and the shot play is going to come. And I thought he adhered to that really great, put our offense in a great situation. I think at the end of the day, when you look back at the first half and the drives that we got stopped, it was more self-inflicted than it was anything that Wisconsin necessarily did.”
The argument to be made here is that while Carr didn’t fill up the stat sheet, he did show maturation and growth from parts of his game last year that needed it.
Those improvements and a matchup with Rice have Carr poised to improve upon his week one performance.
As it stands heading into week two, these are the players with the same or better odds to win the Heisman as Carr heading into week two and who they are facing:
- Miami quarterback Darian Mensah vs. Florida A&M
- Texas quarterback Arch Manning vs. Ohio State
- Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and wideout Jeremiah Smith at Texas
- Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss vs. Charlotte
Another player I have to mention who had a very nice week one is Miami wideout Malachi Toney.
Toney posted an impressive 12 catches for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns against Stanford.
While the field had some impressive performances in week one, there’s still good reason to believe Carr is squarely in the Heisman race as the Irish prepare to welcome the Rice Owls to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.
Want the latest scoop on Notre Dame Football and Recruiting? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish FAHERTY Sunwashed T-Shirt
