Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546785
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 3, 2026 11 UNDER THE DOME "Carr is handling business in a workmanlike fash- ion for Notre Dame through three games. He's yet to attempt 30 passes in a game or surpass 300 yards through the air. But the Irish don't need flash and sizzle from him at this point. They are lean- ing on their defense and trying to develop their rushing attack. Within that context, Carr is doing exactly what they need him to do, completing 72.6% of his passes and ranking No. 9 nationally in EPA per drop-back." — David Cobb of CBS Sports on listing Notre Dame junior CJ Carr third in his Week 4 quarterback power rankings "Notre Dame's run game still remains a question mark, but the defense and quarterback C.J. Carr don't. But if the Fighting Irish want to compete for a national title, they'll need to run the ball better than they did Saturday against Michigan State — or in any other game this season. The Irish are averag- ing 3.6 yards per carry, and not because of sacks. They simply aren't creating any explosive runs." — Andy Staples of On3 "I think this team, roster-wise, is better than the team that played for the national championship in 2024. They're better top-to-bottom defensively, and they have more veteran experience and lead- ership. The defense is as good as any defense out there if they stay healthy. … "They're better because they're better at quar- terback. Riley Leonard was a great college quar- terback, a real dual-threat guy, an excellent runner in the red zone and short yardage. But CJ Carr is a much, much better passer than Riley Leonard was. Right now the best thing that they're doing offen- sively is putting the ball in CJ's hands, throwing the ball on first-and-10 a lot more this year than they did last year. "This receiving group just keeps getting better and better … Jordan Faison is a known quantity, a security blanket for CJ Carr. They get Jaden Great- house back healthy, and all of a sudden here's Micah Gilbert … He is really athletic, explosive, and a lot stronger and more physical than people think. "Everybody's saying their running game has is- sues. Their running game is going to be okay. Their line is good. Aneyas Williams is not Jeremiyah Love. He's not Jadarian Price. Those two guys [Love and Price] had the ability to create and add on to plays just instinctively with their natural ability. They were both first-round draft picks and are starting in the NFL. That's a big difference." — NBC Sports' college football color analyst Todd Black- ledge on Notre Dame "If we're in the Trust Tree here, I'll admit I'm getting a little concerned about the Fighting Irish. They've played two Power Four opponents, and while they won both, they didn't look overwhelm- ing in either game. The defense is phenomenal. The offense? Well, all I'll say is there are two Power Four programs in the country without at least one rush of 20 yards or more this season, and Notre Dame is one of them. The other is Arkansas, and any time you're being mentioned in a sentence with Arkansas right now, and it's not about how you beat Arkansas by 50, that's not a good thing." — Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports on Notre Dame after its 3-0 start "Notre Dame is extremely tough to gauge. The Irish have been in halftime battles with question- able Wisconsin and Michigan State teams, but they also won comfortably enough that the game was never truly in danger. I have concerns about the lack of explosiveness in the run game, but the defense is clearly elite. Their standing will ulti- mately depend on the results of the BYU, Miami and maybe SMU games." — Chris Vannini of The Athletic "Notre Dame is undoubtedly a very good team, but the Irish were supposed to come out and pun- ish teams because they were left out of the College Football Playoff last year. We haven't quite seen that yet, but Marcus Freeman will have plenty of opportunity to bring it out of his team." — Ari Was- serman of On3 after Week 3 Irish On Social Media THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "It just really just taught me to enjoy where I was at because I was still play - ing football with my best friends." — Kentucky senior quarter- back KENNY MINCHEY on his time at Notre Dame (2023-25) to CBS Sports