CJ Carr barely won the offseason competition to become Notre Dame's starting quarterback, but the second-year player has fully capitalized on his opportunity, and coach Marcus Freeman is taking notice.
"It's rare to be a second-year college football player playing in your fifth [career] game and performing at a level he's performing at," Freeman said Monday. "It's rare. But I think CJ Carr is rare."
Carr recorded his first career 300-yard passing performance in Saturday's 56-13 rout of Arkansas, finishing with 354 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 22 of 30 passes. His 294 passing yards in the first half marked the third-highest total in team history, and his four touchdowns were the second-highest total in team history. The four touchdowns also were tied for second most by a true freshman or redshirt freshman in Notre Dame history.
Through four games, Carr has 1,091 passing yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second nationally in total QBR.
Carr, the grandson of longtime Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, competed with third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey in the spring and preseason camp. Minchey's strong practice performances suggested he might get the first opportunity to start, but Freeman went with Carr, who saw action in only one game last fall and had no pass attempts.
"He has this unique trait that very few people have," Freeman said. "He is ... a competitive, selfless individual. It's not about CJ Carr. He's not so competitive that, 'I want to be able to throw for this amount.' It's like, 'Whatever we got to do to win, if I got to motivate, if I got to work, if I got to put my head down and run if I got to throw the ball,' whatever it takes to win, like, he has that trait. He hates to lose, and then he's mature in the way he prepares."
