The Notre Dame football team’s quarterback race might start to pare down relatively soon. Shortly after the Blue and Gold game concluded on Saturday afternoon, head coach Marcus Freeman gave a bit of a teaser. He said he wanted the race to be between two players by the time the team got to the fall.
He didn’t say he wanted to pare down from a three-man race in the fall. He wants to be there already one fall camp kicks off. That certainly sounds like there might be someone dropping off in the next few days, now that spring practice is essentially over. One of the favorites might have stepped forward on Saturday.
While all three quarterbacks flashed at time, if a winner of the quarterback competition had to be named based on this final scrimmage, it certainly seems like the Notre Dame football team would be going with CJ Carr. The most surprising tidbit after that, might be that Kenny Minchey could be No. 2 and that Steve Angeli could be the odd man out.
CJ Carr leads as Notre Dame football nears quarterback decision
“It’s really hard to truly have a three-quarterback battle, but we gotta sit down and have conversations about what’s best for our program, what’s best for our quarterbacks,” Freeman said after the scrimmage. “We’ll make those decisions in the future.”
Angeli finished 8-of-11 for 108 yards and a touchdown. Minchey went 6-of-14 for 106, rushing for a score. Carr completed 14 of his 19 attempts for 170 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. While that interception was a bad decision, he also completed a lot of pretty passes, especially deep against the Irish’s best defenders.
Against the top defenses, both Angeli and Minchey struggled. Minchey did show that he can be a weapon on the ground. Angeli once again looked business like, but not as impressive as Carr in any one throw. And he doesn’t have the mobility of Minchey.
With the transfer portal opening on Wednesday, it’s possible that one of the three quarterbacks could see the writing on the wall. Or they could be told that they are currently running third in the quarterback race. It doesn’t seem that Freeman will have the Notre Dame football quarterback race down to two officially, but we may know who is left standing in short order.