Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546494
30 SEPT. 12, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On his evaluation of CJ Carr's performance: "Excellent. The things that probably the naked eye doesn't see is what impresses me the most. The ability to check plays, the ability to keep our offense out of negative situations. "It might be a 3-yard run, but if he didn't check it, it would have been a 2-yard loss. Our wideouts did a really good job today, but there was a couple of balls we got to catch in tough situations. And he played excellent, man. "He's a leader, he's smart, he's prepared. He's a coach on the field. He kept our offense in good situations. And so, I mean, this was a great start for his junior year." JUNIOR QB CJ CARR … On how he would assess his performance: "It was ad- justments, getting more comfortable. Felt like we found a good flow in that second half. Really pleased with the outcome of the game. And now we got Rice preparation, tonight going into tomorrow. Excited to get into Week 2." On why he is good at checking at the line of scrimmage and what he likes about that: "I see and understand some of the ways our run plays are being blocked. And that comes with repetitions of tape walks with our O-line guys and under- standing what their roles are, too." "We're building together in a place where I can get up, and I'm kind of understanding what our line needs and how they want a run to be blocked, and then what's the look present that can get us into a good play. Super excited to continue to work through the bumps with the line. I thought they did an unbelievable job today." On his chemistry with the wide receivers: "I think the trust I have in those guys is at a really good level and place. And it's continued to grow with guys like Mylan [Graham] and Micah [Gilbert]. Micah played a lot last year. But Mylan just recently got in here. "Then you've got guys like JG [Jaden Greathouse] and Jordan [Faison], who have been here for three years. And I understand their body movements and the way they want to run around when they're open and where I can throw the ball to them. "So it's a mix of both. And I'm super excited to continue to work with those guys." SENIOR S ADON SHULER … On what it was like to play at Lambeau Field: "I've been watching Green Bay games my whole life. So just being in this environment was truly a blessing. And to do it with my team- mates and the brotherhood was the biggest experience. "I didn't even know what to say during the pregame speech, just because it's like, we're finally in the moment and just want to embrace it." SOPHOMORE TE JAMES FLANIGAN … On how he handled playing in his hometown of Green Bay: "My plan for it worked, which was pregame warm-ups, go out on the field, soak it all in. If I see family, say hi, wave. And then, once we run out of the tunnel after warm-ups, it's all business from there. "After the first play, really just tend to lock in and just focus on playing football." WISCONSIN HEAD COACH LUKE FICKELL … On defending Carr on the outside by giving the cor- nerbacks more space: "At times, but no. I mean, there's things where we want to be able to roll up and buzz underneath and get down on those guys. But also not expecting—not ev- erybody takes all those. And that's where, especially in the second half, I think that's where they finally said, 'Look, we're going to loosen them up in the running game a little bit by tak- ing some of these free access throws and give him credit. "He delivers things on time. He does a really good job. He's got a lot of confidence in it. He cost us some issues, and we got to find ways to eliminate some of those things a little bit more in particular, especially as a guy as good as he is." On how the Wisconsin wide receivers performed against the Notre Dame secondary: "We'll have to look at it. They're a very good defense. They're very good in the back end. They did change some things up. I'll give them some credit. They didn't play all the man as they had done in the past. "They were able to go to some other things, which is going to be very beneficial in the future." — Kyle Kelly FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Junior quarterback CJ Carr completed 19 of 29 passes for 239 yards with 2 touchdowns in his 2026 debut. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER