Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 OCT. 11, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME BASKETBALL TEAMS GET NEW ALTERNATE UNIFORM Notre Dame men's and women's basketball re‑ leased a new alternate uniform for the 2025‑26 season, featuring a tribute to their home city. The Irish will wear black jerseys with gold let‑ tering that reads "The Bend" in bold, cursive font and the "ND" logo on the back. Both teams will wear the new getups during the first week in the season; the men's team will wear them against Detroit Mercy Nov. 7, while the women's team will wear them against Chicago State Nov. 9. Each part of the design was chosen carefully, according to the Irish. Here are four decisions they made, according to a press release: • The script font on the front was inspired by the "South Bend" mural on the side of Madison Oyster Bar in downtown South Bend. • The numbers were inspired by the tail‑ gates of Studebaker pick‑up trucks, which were founded in South Bend. • The lines on the side of the shorts are pulled from the South Bend flag, which references the St. Joseph River. The city is called South Bend be‑ cause it's located on the south bend of the river. • That flag is also located on the waistband of the shorts. Notre Dame debuted its new jerseys Oct. 3 during "Irish Jam," the programs' first annual preseason showcase at the Eddy Street Com‑ mons. — Jack Soble CJ CARR RACKS UP WEEKLY AWARDS Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week, honoring the nation's best freshman, for his performance in Week 5 at Arkansas. He was also selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week for the same game. In a 56‑13 win over the Razorbacks, Carr com‑ pleted 22 of 30 throws for a career‑high 354 yards (11.8 yards per attempt) with 4 touchdowns. The 6‑foot‑3, 210‑pound redshirt freshman posted a passer rating of 216.5, raising his season‑long mark to 181.1 — which ranked 10th in the country through Week 5. "He's getting better," head coach Marcus Free‑ man said. "I've challenged him, 'How do you con‑ tinuously get better in terms of your routine, your preparation?' And he prepares his tail off. … He's a talented individual, but he prepares his butt off and he's playing with a lot of confidence right now." According to the Irish, Carr led all freshmen in college football in yards per attempt (10.49) and yards per completion (15.37) through the end of September. Those numbers rank fifth and sixth in the nation, respectively. Carr is proving to be everything the Irish thought he was out of Saline (Mich.) High and more. — Jack Soble 'I THINK CJ CARR'S RARE' As CJ Carr prepared to snap the ball from the 7‑yard line with Notre Dame up 7‑3 in the second quarter, Arkansas redshirt senior linebacker Trent Whalen creeped toward the line of scrimmage. Whalen blitzed, and he showed it late enough that the Irish couldn't account for it in their protec‑ tion scheme. He had a free lane toward Carr. But that's not a problem when your redshirt freshman quarterback in his fourth career start plays like he's anything but. Carr dumped the ball right over Whalen's head and into the arms of junior running back Jer‑ emiyah Love, which was not as easy as he made it look. Many quarterbacks, with an unblocked linebacker heading straight toward them, would have panicked and taken a sack, tried to tuck it and run or thrown the ball at someone's feet. Not Carr. Plays like that — as well as the offensive line doing its job to near perfection — allowed Carr to go 11 of 13 for 167 yards (12.8 per attempt) with 2 touchdowns when Arkansas blitzed, per PFF. "We have to be in the correct protection and that's something that CJ was able to do," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "You can see a pressure and say, 'OK, I want to change the protection to pick up that pressure.' I thought he did a great job of recognizing the pressure." Recognizing pressure and adjusting protection at the line of scrimmage is something NFL quar‑ terbacks can struggle with. It's just one more reason Carr, who did not throw a single pass as a true freshman in 2024, is ridiculously advanced for a quarterback his age. "It's rare," Freeman said. "It's rare to be a second‑year college football player playing in his fifth game and perform at a level he's performed at. It's rare, but I think CJ Carr's rare." Carr's talent is becoming apparent to some national college football writers, though not as many as if Notre Dame were 4‑0. ESPN senior writer Dan Wetzel said it would not surprise him if Carr was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. That's not what stands out to Freeman the most, though. "He has this unique trait that very few people have," Freeman said. "He is — I said this after the game — a competitive, selfless individual. It's not about CJ Carr. "He's not so competitive that I want to be able to throw for this. It's like, 'Whatever we gotta do to win. If I gotta motivate, if I gotta run, if I gotta put my head down and run, if I gotta throw the ball, whatever it takes to win,' like he has that trait. He hates to lose." — Jack Soble Notre Dame basketball's new alternate uniform — worn here by Marcus Burton and Hannah Hidalgo — is called "The Bend" and will serve as a tribute to their home city. PHOTOS COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS