CJ Carr's Command Of The Notre Dame Offense Evident Through Seven Games

Notre Dame entered the 2026 season with something they had been without for nearly half a decade, a returning starting quarterback. Saline, Michigan native CJ Carr returned for his junior season to the Fighting Irish offense and was back under center. He garnered a lot of preseason attention from January to August and was considered one of the best returning quarterbacks in college football. 

Carr was a favorite to win the Heisman trophy and found his name listed on every preseason award watch list for quarterbacks in college football. As the offseason progressed, we started to see his command of the offense and his command of the team and so far through seven games, his overall command of the offense has been on display. 

Statistically, he isn't having the Heisman level campaign we thought he would back in July. Not to say that he's been bad this season, but through seven games, the 6-2, 215-pound quarterback has completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,639 yards. Carr has thrown 16 touchdown passes, only one interceptions and has rushed for an additional three touchdowns. He currently owns a 164.6 passer rating was riding a 16-game win streak as a starter prior to entering their matchup with BYU. 

Carr has been good this season, but he hasn't put up the Heisman-level numbers we presumed he would. Where he has been elite, however, is his ability to check into plays at the line of scrimmage and put the offense in favorable positions. That's something head coach Marcus Freeman raved about in the preseason and we're seeing that come to fruition on Saturdays. 

As a team, Notre Dame ranked 1st in the country in sacks allowed (2) and 4th in the country in tackles for loss allowed (16 for 42 yards). The Irish also rank 4th in the country in tackles for loss allowed per game (2.29). Some of that has been on the offensive line's ability to keep Carr's jersey clean, but a lot of it has to do with the Michigan native's ability to check them into the right protection or correct run play. 

I would argue that there's no other quarterback in college football that does more pre-snap than Carr. In some ways, that's a good thing projecting his mental understanding of the game to the next level. In other ways, like we've saw this past weekend, that can hinder the offense's ability to get some of their more dynamic weapons on the field and move the ball with any sort of tempo. 

For offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, it's about finding the middle ground with Carr's ability to check plays at the line of scrimmage. Coming out of high school, we knew Carr operated a little differently than other high school quarterbacks. His level of intelligence and understanding of the game far surpasses anything I've seen at Notre Dame at that position in quite some time. It's a strength, but now it'll be up to the coaching staff to utilize that strength in the proper settings. 

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