Notre Dame has worked their way back into the playoff discussion after rattling off five straight wins after starting the season 0-2. Their offense has been the driver of their win streak after posting a 56-point outing against Purdue, a 56-point outing against Arkansas, a 36-point outing against NC State and a 34-point outing against USC. Yes, there were some special teams touchdowns mixed in, but the Irish offense has looked great in Mike Denbrock's second year at offensive coordinator. If they wish to finish the season strong, they'll have to hit home on these keys to cap off the 2025 season with another 10-game winning streak.
Carr's Continued Development
Since his arrival on campus, we all knew CJ Carr would be an exceptional talent. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long to find out what that would look like. After his true freshman season in 2024, the Michigan native was named the starter for the 2025 season and hasn't looked back. He currently has 1,758 passing yards on the season with 14 touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and four interceptions. Carr is completing 65.8% of his passes and has unleashed a downfield passing attack in South Bend. He's already thrown for over 290 yards in three games this season which is something the two previous Notre Dame quarterbacks failed to do in an entire season.
That being said, Carr is still a redshirt freshman and with that comes redshirt freshman mistakes, something that was to be expected this season. These next five games will be crucial for his development and will go a long way in getting him into a rhythm heading into the post season. Carr's completion percentage has dipped the last two games and has not looked as sharp, at times, that we saw in the early stages of September. This isn't to say he's playing poorly, he just has a lot of room to grow. The month of November will be crucial in Notre Dame reaching their full potential on offense heading into the playoffs; Carr's development will play a big role in that.
Balance The Receiver Rotation
Notre Dame's receiver rotation has been interesting to say the least seven games into the season. As expected, Virginia transfer Malachi Fields has started every game in the boundary and junior Jordan Faison has started every game at the field receiver position. What I didn't expect, however, was the amount of snaps both Fields and Faison would have played through the half way point. Both receivers have combined to play 780 snaps through the first seven games; Fields has played 398 and Faison has played 382. The next closest receiver has played 217 snaps and that's been Wisconsin transfer Will Pauling. Fields and Faison are on-pace to play more snaps in the regular season than former boundary receiver Beaux Collins did in a 16-game season in 2024.
These next five games against Boston College, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford should allow for the depth at receiver to see more opportunities on the field. Some issues are health related with Jaden Greathouse and Micah Gilbert. But even before his injury, Greathouse was averaging 28 snaps a game compared to Fields and Faison who average well over 52 snaps a game. Redshirt sophomore KK Smith also needs to see the field more due to the skillset he brings to the room. Fields and Faison are extremely talented football players, this is about keeping them fresh for the post season and at the rate their going, they'll be playing with dead legs by the quarterfinals.
Get (And Remain) Healthy
Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game, but the Irish have some significant injuries on the offensive side of the ball at every position except quarterback and running back. Greathouse has missed the last few games with a calf injury while Gilbert, a fellow wide receiver has also missed some time due to a hand injury. Left guard Billy Schrauth will miss the next few weeks with an MCL injury, tight end Cooper Flanagan is slowly working his way back from an achilles injury suffered in 2024 and offensive guard Charles Jagusah had a set back in his return from injury and likely won't be back until the post season.
Due to the level of competition they face in the final five games, there are some players Notre Dame can 'afford' to be without to get them back to full health. I don't think the offensive line will need Schrauth, Jagusah or Gilbert to compete with Boston College, Syracuse or Stanford. Everything about their recovery has to be geared towards getting them to 100 percent when the post season rolls around. If some of these players can get back to full health by the end of the regular season, this offense will be a wagon heading into the playoffs.
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