Not only did CJ Carr fry Rice's defense early and often on Saturday afternoon, but the Notre Dame quarterback might have begun his Heisman campaign in earnest with a performance that was somehow better than his raw numbers suggested.
Carr's raw numbers? He completed 16 of 20 passes for 253 yards, 4 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. This year, the Irish signal caller has completed 71.4% of his passes for 492 yards, 6 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Even better, Carr has done that without facing off against an FCS school like Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney. The Miami Hurricanes stars got to pad their resume this week with a 77-7 win over Florida A&M.
While Carr's numbers are impressive, it's when you look at the grade the Notre Dame QB put up on Pro Football Focus that it really looks like a push for the Heisman Trophy. Carr earned a grade of 94.3 overall, which happens to be the highest grade of any player in college football so far this season. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings posted an identical 94.3 overall grade, but he did that against an FCS squad, UC Davis.
Obviously, the opponents this year are quite a bit worse than the ones Notre Dame faced in 2025, but Carr's start to the season is still worlds better. Last year, Carr threw six interceptions, and three of them came in the first two weeks. He was also sacked five times and he's only been sacked once this year.
Notre Dame football QB CJ Carr leads college football with 94.3 PFF grade
Carr had so much time in the pocket on Saturday that it doesn't look like he was ever really touched. Some will argue that doing that against Wisconsin and Rice isn't all that impressive, but the Badgers consider their defensive line their strength, and it is widely regarded as one of the best units in the Big Ten.
Carr's performance on Saturday was also noteworthy because, while his raw statistics against Wisconsin were very good, his PFF grade wasn't anywhere near 94.3. In Notre Dame's season-opening win, Carr's overall rating was a much more pedestrian 72.6.
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