- Freeman said the plan was to protect Carr early with easy reads and throws.
- Carr proved he can handle the full playbook as the Miami game progressed.
- RPO balance with Jeremiah Love remains a major focus.
- Offensive line leaders tasked with responding after struggles vs. Miami.
- Freeman: “CJ can execute the entire game, playing the entire playbook.”
Marcus Freeman went into Miami with a plan: protect his freshman quarterback in his first career start, keep the reads simple, and avoid putting too much on his shoulders early. But by the second half, CJ Carr showed he was ready for more. As Notre Dame heads into its primetime matchup with Texas A&M, Freeman made it clear the Irish are prepared to lean on Carr’s arm and open up the offense more than we saw on Labor Day weekend in Miami.
Protecting the First-Time Starter
Freeman was candid about his conservative approach early in Carr’s debut.
“I think we were very intentional about trying to protect the first time starter early in the game, right?” Freeman said. “I was vocal about giving him easy reads, easy throws, let’s not just tell him to bomb down the ball down the field every play – because he’ll do that, right? If if we allow him to. CJ will throw the ball down the field every single play.”
By halftime, though, Freeman said Carr’s poise made it clear the offense could expand.
“He showed he’s ready, he’s capable. And you saw as the game went on, we were able to take some more shots,” Freeman said.
Ready for the Full Playbook
Freeman’s trust in Carr goes beyond just throwing deep.
“I still am a firm believer shots are a response to being able to have positive run plays, right? We have to be able to run the football,” Freeman said. “But we feel like CJ can execute the entire game, playing the entire playbook. He’s a special player.”
That confidence sets the stage for Notre Dame’s offense to evolve quickly as Carr gains more experience.
Balancing RPOs and Jeremiah Love
Part of Carr’s development will be finding balance in Notre Dame’s run-pass option game, especially when defenses load the box.
“I think there’s RPOs that you’re reading a defender like if they’re putting an eighth man in the box, we got to throw it out to really take advantage of the numbers,” Freeman explained. “But then there’s sometimes that it’s a little bit gray, and we got to be very clear with our quarterbacks. If it’s gray, what do we want them to do? Do we want them to hand it off? Do we want him to throw it?”
Freeman admitted the staff has to make sure their star running back gets the ball regardless of the look after Love registered just 10 carries in the loss to Miami.
“We were very intentional about trying to put the ball in Jeremiyah Love’s hands or making him the primary target,” Freeman said. “Some of those included RPOs where we’ve talked as a coaching staff, is there times that we got to take out the read, and be able to say, ‘Hey, this is what we want to do.’ Hand the ball off here or, hey, let’s continue to throw it out if they’re going to bring the extra guy in the box.
Freeman was clear. “We know we want to focus our offense around J(eremiyah) Love. He’s a special player. But at the same point, we got to make sure that we’re taking advantage of what each defense is trying to do to us.”
Offensive Line Response
Carr’s comfort level and how much of the playbook Mike Denbrock can utilize also depends on the protection up front from an offensive line that struggled in the opener. Freeman was asked about the offensive line after Miami and whether their struggles were more about personnel or execution.
“You know, I thought overall they played well. The standard is to play higher. We know that. Part of it is credit to their D line, their players,” Freeman said. “Sometimes you can get paralyzed because of movement, right? Their D line moved a little bit and did some different things. And what we don’t want to do is paralyze the velocity and the aggression that our O-line plays with.”
Freeman doubled down on his belief in the unit’s leadership.
“Billy (Schrauth) graded as probably one of the highest on our entire offense. Aamil (Wagner) probably didn’t have the game that he wanted or aspired to have, but you know, as far as being a captain, we don’t vote on captains based off of performance or based off production. You’re named a captain because there’s a responsibility that comes with that title, and that’s a responsibility to lead at all times, but especially during tough times.”
What It Means This Weekend
Carr’s debut gave Freeman and the Irish staff proof that their young quarterback can handle far more than the training wheels approach they started with. That doesn’t mean abandoning the run game or RPOs built around Jeremiyah Love — but it does mean Carr has earned the right to drive the offense with the full playbook at his disposal.
Against Texas A&M’s physical defensive front, Notre Dame will need both its quarterback and offensive line captains to respond. Freeman’s message is clear: Carr is ready, and the Irish are ready to trust him.
