Two things can be true at the same time about Notre Dame starting quarterback CJ Carr. He's a very talented quarterback who has a skillset that will translate extremely well to the NFL. He also played arguably the worst game of his career on Saturday night against BYU and he can't do that again if the Fighting Irish want to win the national championship. The good news there is he absolutely can play better.
Earlier this week, BYU defensive coordinator Brady Poppinga talked about the only way to stop Carr would be to confuse him and make him hesitate. It's very clear that Poppinga was successful in doing just that.
Really from Notre Dame's first offensive possession of the game, Carr looked out of sync and off kilter. Twice against BYU, he had wide open receivers that would have turned into easy touchdowns and he overthrew them badly.
CJ Carr needs to be better in big games for Notre Dame
There was also an opportunity to hit his tight end in the end zone for a touchdown and the pass was 10 feet over his head. Even when Carr was completing passes, they tended to be of the circus variety. There just wasn't a lot of the pinpoint control the Irish have seen from Carr for most of his career in South Bend.
Carr's final numbers weren't awful, and certainly his play wasn't so bad that it crippled Notre Dame, but the Irish shouldn't have to win a game, even a game against a Top 10 team, in spite of its quarterback.
Carr's subpar performance was especially obvious considering that BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier was the reason the Cougars won 28-24. He put the team on his shoulders and did everything he needed to do to set them up in position to pull off the upset. In the game, he went 22 for 36 for 236 yards and a touchdown, but he also ran the ball for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns and he even caught a touchdown pass on a great trick play. He also overcame a shaky third quarter to lead BYU downfield and take a 28-24 lead with less than 2 minutes to go.
Carr showed exactly what Notre Dame expects from him in the final drive of the game. Except the ability to hit the big throw. He drove the Irish all the way down the field and completing several big passes to keep the drive going.
But he had the same kind of accuracy issues that plagued him all game. On several throws into the end zone, there was zero chance to complete a pass. And while his final throw should have gotten a pass interference call, but it wasn't a particularly sharp throw either.
Notre Dame's season now comes down to one game if it wants to go to the College Football Playoff. They need to get past Miami. It's hard to see many scenarios where the Irish do that if Carr plays on November 7 the way he did on October 17. The Hurricanes' offense is even better than BYU, and there's a very real chance that game will be a shootout.
For that matter, Carr will need to be much sharper for Notre Dame's game against SMU. The good news is that he absolutely can be better. But after a very so-so performance in the biggest game of the year so far, he has to prove he can get it done against the best of the best.
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