As Notre Dame wraps up its fall camp and begins prep for Wisconsin, one position battle is still ongoing. That battle could end up being far more important than Fighting Irish fans might think at first blush. The fact that there isn’t a winner could also spell more trouble than people around the program are willing to admit.
With CJ Carr hyped and ready to go, the starting quarterback job was established last year about this time. No matter how well Teddy Jarrard, Noah Grubbs or Blake Hebert played, they weren’t going to unseat him.
However, the fact that none of the three have won the backup quarterback job is a concern. Earlier in fall camp, it felt like Notre Dame was getting close to naming Jarrard the guy. His expected rise to backup quarterback, despite being a true freshman who should technically still be in high school, was a heck of a story for a few weeks.
Jarrard was originally a member of the 2028 recruiting cycle but reclassified to 2027 just as the rest of that class was getting ready to report to South Bend. That reclassification still meant he couldn’t take part in Notre Dame’s spring practice. However, once he joined his teammates this summer, he appeared to be a quick study with talent to spare.
So what happened in the last couple of days or weeks to cause Mike Denbrock and Marcus Freeman to step back from the expected announcement? Why are they still trying to figure out who will be the backup quarterback just two weeks before their season kicks off against Wisconsin? The most obvious presumption is that neither Jarrard, Hebert, nor Grubbs is distinguishing himself the way they were earlier in camp, when the coaches were singing their praises on the regular.
Why Notre Dame not having a backup quarterback yet is a bigger problem than at first glance
Considering how good CJ Carr was last year and the improvements expected of him from his first year as a starter to this year, it’s tempting to simply shrug and proclaim the backup QB job isn’t worth worrying about. But because of the nature of the sport and the physicality of college football, it's safe to assume that at some point, Carr will get hurt badly enough that he’ll miss at least a few snaps this fall.
Depending on when those snaps are missed, the Notre Dame backup quarterback could enter a contest with the game on the line. If Freeman and his staff are hesitating to name a QB2 because all three candidates have struggled mightily of late, that could spell trouble later on.
The optimistic view of the Notre Dame foot-dragging is that the trio are all playing well, and they’re so good that the decision is just too difficult. However, the demeanor of Marcus Freeman—that he looked tired and sounded frustrated when he announced he’s not ready to name the backup quarterback—hints at the opposite.
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