USC’s big rival Notre Dame started the new college football season with a devastating loss. True freshman quarterback CJ Carr was one of the new 2025 starting quarterbacks who had a disappointing debut. I don’t know how much blame can be put on Carr, however, for his performance Sunday night. He did not get a lot of help versus a tough opening opponent, the Miami Hurricanes.
Miami has a dominant defensive line and it showed with three sacks. Notre Dame’s coaching staff leaned more toward a game plan to hide its lack of trust in a young quarterback. That was simply a big mistake.
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Michael Chen of Fighting Irish Wire broke down Notre Dame’s poor game plan with new quarterback CJ Carr. Here are his thoughts:
“I don’t disagree with getting CJ Carr’s feet wet with throwing the ball, but offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock called pass plays on seven of Notre Dame’s first eight offensive plays. Lean into your strength, which is the offensive line and running backs. Establishing early momentum is important, as you can crush a team’s hopes quickly. I would have run the ball more often, especially considering the rainy conditions. Running the ball and keeping it away from Miami would have been how I would have approached it. Lots of screens and short passes, and he they did try and stretch the field, but the throws were inaccurate. It wasn’t very pretty early on, and Carr did make some bad throws to open receivers, but the end product was what you were looking for. He’d throw for 221-yards on 19-of-30 passing with 2 touchdowns in the air and one on the ground. He made some costly mistakes, an interception, two intentional groundings and getting sacked late which led to the clock running out. The good news is that there is room to grow, and Carr will be better following this setback.”
As soon as it was evident the Irish did not trust their quarterback, the Hurricanes’ defense was like sharks who smelled blood. The poor game plan and lack of an established run game with a top running back in college football, Jeremiyah Love, ultimately sealed the Irish’s fate Sunday night.
The USC defense has talent and an experienced coaching staff. It should be licking its chops looking at Sunday night’s game for the Irish. The Fighting Irish’s offensive struggles and devastating loss were icing on the cake to a great start to the season for USC.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Notre Dame football’s biggest flaws on full display in Week 1 loss
