With Notre Dame’s season now a quarter of the way finished after a 27-10 win over the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, CJ Carr’s Heisman campaign has reached an important crossroads.
Carr’s performance through the start of the Irish’s season has shown genuine signs of maturity from his 2025 campaign as evidenced by his 72.6% completion percentage and no interceptions.
ISD’s Jamie Uyayama has also spoken on Carr’s improvement in his efficiency from 2025 to 2026 in his 6 Thoughts on a Thursday article.
“CJ Carr has been great,” said Uyeyama. “His QBR is 87.8, which is up from 82.7 from last season. He hasn’t had a turnover-worthy throw, his adjusted completion percentage has improved from 73.2% to 82.4%, and he’s clearly taken more control of the offense in his second season as a starter.”
Against the Spartans specifically, Carr was Pro Football Focus’s fourth-highest-graded quarterback in the Power 4 for week three with a grade of 91.2.
That improvement in his efficiency is great for Carr and the Irish and has led to their first 3-0 start since 2023.
However, Carr also entered the season as odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
While Carr hasn’t played poorly by any stretch of the imagination, it is time for him to take the next step and assert himself right into the thick of the Heisman race.
So far, Carr has thrown for 726 yards, 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while completing 72.6% of his passes.
Leading up to its bye, the Irish play at Purdue, at North Carolina, vs. Stanford and at BYU.
That is plenty of opportunities for Carr to start to make a splash and reassert himself into the Heisman race.
The Boilermakers just allowed 52 points to UCLA in a game where Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns.
North Carolina’s defense is currently allowing less than 200 passing yards per game, but Clemson’s Tait Reynolds was able to get over 200 passing yards in the Tar Heels' most recent matchup.
When the Irish return to South Bend to play the rival Stanford Cardinal, Carr’s best chance to make a splash might be against one of the nation’s worst passing defenses as Stanford’s defense is allowing over 300 passing yards per game.
Then, Carr and the Irish will have the opportunity for a top-ten matchup in Provo against the BYU Cougars.
That gives Carr opportunities to improve his stats, help the Irish continue their hot start to the season and get a signature win against a premier opponent on the road.
If Carr’s performance so far through this season is any indication of his improvements from last season, he can take the next step before the Irish’s bye to reassert himself into the Heisman race.
Turning towards the rest of the nation and the current state of the Heisman race, there is a leader continuing to gain distance on the rest of the pack—Miami quarterback Darian Mensah.
Just to remind everyone that the Heisman is a season-long race and it will not be clear who exactly the top players are until November, but Mensah has asserted himself early in 2026.
Through the first three games of 2026, Mensah has thrown for 873 yards, 11 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while completing 89.9% of his passes.
That is insane efficiency and lots of success throwing the ball.
Per FanDuel Sportsbook, the players with the same or better odds to win the Heisman and who they face are as follows:
- Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss at Florida
- Miami quarterback Darian Mensah vs. Central Michigan
- Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor vs. No. 19 Missouri
- Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith vs. Illinois
- Texas quarterback Arch Manning at No. 14 Tennessee
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