Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 SEPT. 27, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. CJ Carr Is The Real Deal We're going to run out of ways to articulate this and we're only three starts into his career, but because CJ Carr quarterbacking the Fighting Irish is still such a novelty there's no such thing as wearing it out yet. He's everything any team ever wants in a starting quarterback. The Irish only asked him to throw the ball 12 times, but he completed 10 of those passes. Two of them were touchdown tosses. Heck, he even ad-libbed a little on a 6-yard run that won't ever see the light of day because it was such a nothing burger in the context of the entire game, but anyone who watched saw it and must've went, "Wow. This kid is accurate as all heck and he can do that?" The bottom line is Carr is a difference maker at the most important position on the field. It's worth reminding everyone he's not going to look like one of the best signal-callers in the country at all times, but in this game he did. And at times versus Miami and Texas A&M he did, too. He's been good for long enough for us all to think this is just who he is. "The guy has been different from the minute he walked on campus," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "Like, he is an ultra-talented individual and ultra-competitive individual that uses that competitive spirit to prepare. When you add all those things together, you get an output that you've seen in three games." 2. Notre Dame Has The Best Running Back Duo In College Football Carr's life is made easier because he has the luxury of handing the ball off to Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. It's pretty cool when a fan base is in the position to debate which of them is a better runner of the football knowing darn well they're two of the best runners of the football in America. I mean, both of them going over 8.0 yards per carry? Combining for 5 rushing touchdowns? Extra points excluded, they scored as many points as Purdue's entire team. Wait, no. They actually scored 36 points. Price had a kickoff return touchdown, too. You just can't make it up. Both of them are human highlight reels. 3. The Offensive Line Is Trending Up Take away Anthonie Knapp turning into a turnstile for one play and allow- ing CJ Carr to take a sack and lose a fumble. Now think to yourself, "Were there any other plays on which the Notre Dame offensive line looked flat-out incompetent?" No. That's a major step forward from what this unit was in the season opener at Miami. It generally takes time for offensive lines to come into their own and reach their full potential. Notre Dame's is getting closer to that with each game, which is exactly what you want to see from a group this talented and experi- enced. The best is still yet to come, too. Joe Rudolph's position group should only keep improving. 4. The Defensive Line Took A Step The first half was bad. Again. But in the second half, Notre Dame actually started getting after the quarterback. And it was a game changer. The Fighting Irish only gave up one touchdown in the final 30 minutes of the game, and it came with 1:53 remaining. There were long stretches of the second half in which the Notre Dame defensive line actually looked completely competent in terms of winning up front and getting into the backfield. We'll soon see if that was more of a Purdue thing than a Notre Dame thing, but it was a good sign, nonetheless. "I feel like we're coming along well," redshirt sophomore defensive end Bou- bacar Traore said. "We're developing. We still have a long way to go, but I feel like with practice and reps we're just going to keep going up." 5. The Notre Dame Defense Will Be Better When Healthy Notre Dame's passing defense was atrocious again. No other way around that. But maybe we're not paying enough mind to the fact that the best player from the entire Fighting Irish defense, sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore, was out with an ankle injury. And so was starting nickel DeVonta Smith, for the second consecutive game. When Moore and Smith are on the field, the Irish should be at least a little better against the pass. Or maybe a lot better. Those two are definitely worth some points. FIVE THOUGHTS BY TYLER HORKA Redshirt sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore (No. 5) had 5 total stops, 1 tackle for loss and 1 forced fumble against Purdue. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER