Notre Dame’s Freeman praises CJ Carr’s ‘uncommon’ early success

CJ Carr barely gained the offseason competitors to grow to be Notre Dame’s beginning quarterback, however the second-year participant has absolutely capitalized on his alternative, and coach Marcus Freeman is taking discover.

“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 stated Monday. “It’s rare. But I think CJ Carr is rare.”

Carr recorded his first profession 300-yard passing efficiency in Saturday’s 56-13 rout of Arkansas, ending with 354 yards and 4 touchdowns, whereas finishing 22 of 30 passes. His 294 passing yards within the first half marked the third-highest whole in crew historical past, and his 4 touchdowns have been the second-highest whole in crew historical past. The 4 touchdowns additionally have been tied for second most by a real freshman or redshirt freshman in Notre Dame historical past.

Through 4 video games, Carr has 1,091 passing yards with 9 touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second nationally in whole QBR.

Carr, the grandson of longtime Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, competed with third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey within the spring and preseason camp. Minchey’s robust follow performances recommended he would possibly get the primary alternative to start out, however Freeman went with Carr, who noticed motion in just one recreation final fall and had no go makes an attempt.

“He has this unique trait that very few people have,” Freeman stated. “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.”