Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 4, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Notre Dame's offense already established a pace that Arkansas was unlikely to keep up with by scoring touchdowns on its first five drives of the game. But the Razorbacks lost any glimmer of hope when Irish redshirt sopho- more safety Adon Shuler, a captain, forced wide receiver Raylen Sharpe to fumble and recovered it with 24 seconds remaining in the first half. "Arkansas, we knew that they were a team that fumbled the ball a lot," Shuler said. "So, we know the second man in has to attempt to rip the ball." Notre Dame's offense took advantage two plays later with a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback CJ Carr to running back Jadarian Price. Thanks to the Irish defense, Notre Dame managed to score twice in the final 35 seconds of the first half to build a 42-13 lead. STATS OF THE GAME Junior running back Jeremiyah Love scored 4 touchdowns against Arkansas with all coming in the first half. He reached the end zone four times one week after Jadarian Price did the same against Purdue. The Irish defense limited Arkansas quarter- back Taylen Green to 288 yards of total offense — 207 passing and 81 rushing. Green entered the game averaging 387.7 yards of total offense per game, which led the country. A season-high four Notre Dame players fin- ished with at least 50 receiving yards: junior wide receiver Jordan Faison (89), redshirt se- nior wide receiver Malachi Fields (72), Love (70) and redshirt senior wide receiver Will Pauling (53). TURNOVERS START TO FAVOR IRISH Notre Dame began its season by digging itself in 2-0 turnover deficit in the opening loss to Miami. But the Irish have slowly been improv- ing their turnover margin on a game-to-game basis. Notre Dame and Texas A&M each committed 1 turnover against each other in the second game of the season. The Irish won the turnover battle 2-1 against Purdue. The turnover momentum swung in Notre Dame's favor at Arkansas with a 2-0 advan- tage. The game marked the Irish's first of the season without committing a turnover. Shuler's fumble recovery and junior safety Luke Talich's interception of Green in the fourth quarter accounted for the defensive turnover success. As Notre Dame works to figure out its de- fensive issues, forcing turnovers can help the Irish stomach long drive and excessive yardage totals. That's how Arkansas managed 365 yards of offense but only 13 points. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER JAMES QB CJ CARR The redshirt freshman had junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse open for a first down and redshirt senior Will Pauling open for a touchdown. He picked the latter. That was a snapshot of the Carr's day: constantly turning down good plays for explosive plays against a Swiss cheese-like Arkansas defense. He connected on 22 of 30 throws for 354 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, good for a passer rating of 216.5. When his day was done after Notre Dame's seventh touchdown drive, Carr sat and watched film next to Marcus Freeman. The Irish head coach walked away with a satisfied smile, knowing he has his long-term answer at quarterback. RB JEREMIYAH LOVE With the Irish up 7-3 in the first quarter, the junior running back caught a pass on the left side with all his momentum going toward the sideline and a Razorback defender bearing down on him. Somehow, he stopped all that momentum and spun back to his right, shaking the defender and walking in for the touchdown. Love racked up 127 yards and 4 touchdowns on 19 touches against the Razorbacks, including 5 receptions for 70 yards and 2 scores through the air. TE TY WASHINGTON The redshirt junior drove his defender toward the Arkansas sideline and into the ground during the second quarter. When he got up, he made sure to let the Razorbacks hear about it. This was personal for Washington. Notre Dame knew it. "Because it meant more to Ty, it meant more to the team," Carr said. Washington was an Arkansas tight end until last October, when Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman kicked him off the team for refusing to enter a game. His grandmother had fallen ill, Washington has ex- plained since then, and he did not believe he was in the right headspace to play. Now established as Notre Dame's No. 2 tight end, Washington did not catch a pass but greatly impacted the game. "You saw him out there, just killing people in the blocking game," Carr said. Carr made sure to hug Washington on the sidelines after the Irish sealed the win. The former Razorback had earned it. GAME BALLS BY JACK SOBLE Ty Washington (right), who transferred from Arkansas to Notre Dame in December 2024, made a big impact run blocking for Irish ball carriers en route to a win over his former team. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER