To take final step in becoming a national championship program, Notre Dame must generate stronger quarterback play. Insert CJ Carr.
CJ Carr on the mend after elbow injury affected his true freshman season, when he was a backup.
CJ Carr and Steve Angelli top options to replace Riley Leonard. Carr offers higher ceiling.
Notre Dame’s college football future hinges on a hinge. An elbow, specifically. That elbow connects CJ Carr’s upper arm to his lower arm, and it’s on the mend.
The Fighting Irish need a healthy and effective Carr. How the redshirt freshman quarterback fares will shape Notre Dame’s national title potential in 2025.
The national championship game Monday night painted an obvious picture of the gap separating the Irish from the summit: They must become more threatening in the pass game.
Ohio State clinched its 34-23 triumph with a play Notre Dame couldn’t make. The Irish rushed seven defenders on third down, leaving Christian Gray on a man-to-man coverage island against Buckeyes star receiver Jeremiah Smith.
That’s an unfair fight.
Will Howard finished his dazzling postseason by tossing a beautiful 56-yard completion into Smith’s mitts. From there, you could prepare the trigger on the red and white confetti.
‘We felt like we had an advantage with Jeremiah,’ Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said.
They had an advantage with Howard, too.
REPORT CARD: College football season grades for all 134 teams
LOOKING AHEAD: Our way-too-early college football Top 25 for 2025
Notre Dame needs better than Riley Leonard to win it all
Howard completed his first 13 passes during a quarterback masterclass, spreading the ball around among the nation’s best receiving corps. By comparison, quarterback runs persisted as Notre Dame’s most reliable weapon.
No dig intended here at Riley Leonard, Notre Dame’s outgoing starting quarterback. His leadership, toughness, running skills and durability helped Notre Dame reach the season’s final game. In a show of grit, Leonard ran on nine of Notre Dame’s 18 plays during its opening touchdown drive.
To prevail on this stage, though, the Irish require a quarterback who’s a stronger passer, plus more dynamic wide receivers. That was true when the 2012 Irish finished as national runners-up, and it’s true today.
“We couldn’t run Riley every play,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. “It’s not right for Riley, and it’s not going to sustain the success we needed offensively.”
Bingo. At some point, championship teams need a quarterback and wide receiver who can team up for a 56-yard chunk play.
Maybe, Carr will become that trigger man.
CJ Carr holds keys to Notre Dame’s future
Freeman declared in December that Notre Dame would not pursue a transfer quarterback this offseason. That’s either a show of foolishness or supreme confidence in Carr’s recovery and ability. Carr signed 13 months ago as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, complete with a four-star billing. He never threw a pass as a true freshman, before an elbow injury shelved him.
Carr told reporters a few weeks ago that he’s healing nicely. That’s a relief for Notre Dame. Never mind what you hear about a brewing competition between Carr and two-year backup Steve Angeli to be Leonard’s heir. Carr offers a higher ceiling. If the Irish plan to chase hardware next season, he’s the guy.
“CJ Carr, he’s a put-the-franchise-on-your-back kind of quarterback,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said recently on air.
The last seven national champions started quarterbacks who averaged at least 199 yards passing. Four of those seven averaged more than 250 yards passing, including Howard.
Compare that to Leonard, who averaged 179 yards passing and a modest 7.1 yards per attempt.
And Howard? He threw for more than 4,000 yards, 35 touchdowns and hit at a clip of 9.5 yards per attempt. That’s the stuff of a champion.
Freeman fosters the necessary culture and toughness for Notre Dame to be a College Football Playoff fixture, but it’s become a pitch-and-catch game, folks.
LSU and Alabama retrained us on what a national champion looks like in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, when Joe Burrow and then Mac Jones torched defenses with completions to receivers beyond compare. Even as Georgia built all-star rosters during back-to-back championships, Stetson Bennett averaged more than 275 yards passing for the Bulldogs’ second title team and stepped up in the biggest games.
Michigan won last season without an elite quarterback. J.J. McCarthy and his receivers were good, not great. The Wolverines’ fulcrum became run-and-tackle football, but after the playoff expanded to four rounds and 12 teams, it’s become more difficult to envision a champion without a top-shelf quarterback.
And the question lingers as to whether Freeman will produce one.
Notre Dame’s latest signing class finished without a blue-chip quarterback after Deuce Knight flipped his commitment to Auburn. Notre Dame’s top four recruits are an offensive tackle, a linebacker, a tight end and a safety. Sounds like the Irish, right?
Where’s the receiver who’s going to top 1,000 yards? Ohio State possessed two of them.
Jaden Greathouse finished with a crescendo. He’ll return to lead Notre Dame’s receiving group that includes Jordan Faison. That’s a start. It’s not enough, frankly. The Irish will need transfer receiver Malachi Fields of Virginia to thrive, and someone must get the ball in his hands.
Notre Dame taking that final big step to the top of the college football mountain hinges on an elbow healing, and a quarterback flourishing.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.