The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, fresh off an impressive victory and boasting an offense that totally outclassed Arkansas, have unleashed their latest formula for success: young quarterback CJ Carr. Head coach Marcus Freeman, after relying on veteran transfer quarterbacks like Riley Leonard and Sam Hartman for two seasons, made a high-risk, high-reward move by starting the young, highly-touted freshman CJ Carr. And after a slowish start, Carr has pushed this Notre Dame offense to levels not seen in many years. It’s become evidently clear that Marcus Freeman’s bold move has and will continue to pay dividends for the Fighting Irish.
While this decision led to two losses to start the year, the long-term payoff is now emerging. The previous strategy of using one-year transfer quarterbacks provided week-one stability but ultimately constrained the maximum ability that Notre Dame could be because the quarterback had a lower ceiling. Prior transfer additions, like Hartman and Leonard, were solid players who brought immediate performance. But they were one-year rentals that had limited peaks. By contrast, Carr, though unproven, has the potential to be a Heisman caliber player and a multi-year leader around whom the program can be built.
The risk with a young quarterback is the lengthy spin-up time. For CJ Carr, that time was just two weeks. After a shaky start, his performance and efficiency have skyrocketed, proving he is rapidly ascending to an elite level. Virtually all data points support this:
- Pro Football Focus (PFF) Grades: After the first four games of the season, Carr’s passing and offensive grades are significantly better than those posted by Riley Leonard through the same stretch of games last season.
- NFL Passer Rating: Carr has posted elite-level passer ratings in the last two weeks, including a 158.3 rating against Purdue and 148.4 against Arkansas.
- Turnover Control: He is quickly cleaning up mistakes. Carr threw one interception in each of the first two games, but has thrown zero interceptions in the last two games. His number of turnover-worthy plays has dropped significantly from three in the first two games to just one in the last two.
The young quarterback’s impressive play is already proving formidable, even against elite defenses. In his very first performance against a top-ranked Miami defense, Carr led the Notre Dame offense to 24 points. While far from a record breaking number, that total that is more than the Hurricanes’ next three opponents combined scored against them. Even at his most raw, Carr still demonstrated his talent.
The most valuable result of this decision is the stability it provides for the program’s future. Instead of having to restart at the quarterback position every offseason, Notre Dame has solved its quarterback problem for years to come. Carr now enters his next season as a veteran, providing the kind of stability that consistent championship-winning programs rely on.
Regardless of whether or not Notre Dame makes the postseason in 2025, Marcus Freeman’s decision to go with CJ Carr has set up the future of the program. Carr’s veteran status and long tenure in the program could be exactly what Notre Dame needs to propel them not just to another deep postseason run, but to a national championship. And that’s why Freeman’s decision outsmarted literally all of his competition.
Disclaimer: The content of this article was originally published as a YouTube video on the SMI College Football Show YouTube channel. With AI assistance, the publisher of the video created this article based on the content of that video.
