CJ Carr’s Notre Dame Football Opener Was the Game Plan, Not the Ceiling

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr did not throw the ball down the field much at Lambeau Field during Notre Dame’s season opener. The Irish coaching staff had told him days earlier that he probably would not have to. Pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli said Wednesday that taking the checkdowns was an expectation set in a staff meeting before the team ever left for Green Bay.

“Yeah, I think, you know, we meet with Coach Freeman every Friday and kind of talk through the travel list and talk about expectations for our position, and that was one of the things we touched on there, is that we can’t get greedy,” Guidugli said. “We got to stay patient, be able to take the checkdowns, and those will eventually lead to the shots down the field.”

Carr finished 19 of 29 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the 41-13 win, an average of 8.2 yards per attempt. A solid night, but maybe not the night most expected with Heisman expectations surrounding Carr. What the night did not produce was much of a vertical passing chart.

The Plan Was Patience, Not Forcing Shots

Marcus Freeman was asked about that Tuesday and did not treat it as a problem.

“We want to take what the defense gives us. He did exactly what the game plan presented, and we don’t need to force something that’s not there,” Freeman said. “And that’s how they played their defense, a lot of zone. The shots we were going to be able to take were those deep in-cuts from the number one receiver to the field. And, I mean, he did it, and we knew we were going to have to take checkdowns, and he did it.”

Taking the checkdowns and not forcing the ball is growth and maturity from a quarterback entering his second season as the starter.

“He made great decisions, great balls. And, I mean, if a defense is going to present us opportunities to throw deep balls and be successful, we’ll do it,” Freeman said. “But we could have thrown 20 deep balls, and if they’re not complete, why are we doing it, you know? And so, let’s be smart and take advantage of what defenses are going to give us.”

The result was volume spread across the roster, and Freeman put a number on how wide it went.

“I think he threw it to 10 different targets maybe, nine different guys had receptions. And it isn’t always going to be the wideouts, right? Tight ends had receptions. You talk about, uh, the running backs,” Freeman said.

Asked about Carr’s chemistry with the reworked wide receiver room, Freeman said chemistry is not a concern.

“They have chemistry. He has chemistry with those guys on the field,” Freeman said. “And, uh, because at the end of the day, we got to score points, you know?”

Working the Newer Targets Into the Mix

Freeman was asked how Carr builds the same feel with Mylan Graham that he has with Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse. Faison and Greathouse are both in their fourth season on the roster. Graham arrived from Ohio State with six catches for 93 yards to his name, and the throws his way against Wisconsin did not connect.

“I think CJ has confidence in a lot of those guys. And again, he has to continue to trust what the game plan is. You know, I remember we threw the fade ball to Mylan. It was incomplete. And the one we did throw to Mylan, we had a holding call,” Freeman said.

He returned to the point at the end of the same answer.

“But I thought he did a great job of really going through his progression and, you know, making the right decision,” Freeman said.

What Guidugli Saw From the Box

Guidugli is the only position coach who works from the coaches’ box, which gives him a different view of the first half than the one available on the sideline. Asked whether anything he saw Sunday led to an adjustment that failed, he said no, and then put the first half on the Irish rather than on Wisconsin.

“I get the luxury of being able to kind of jot things down and see the full-field perspective,” Guidugli said. “And, you know, at the end of the day when we go back and look at the tape, it was more about Notre Dame stopping Notre Dame than it was anything that Wisconsin particularly did.”

That is a different emphasis than Freeman’s. Freeman explained the shape of the passing game by pointing at Wisconsin’s zone. Guidugli, asked a broader question about halftime, pointed at Notre Dame. Both can be true. The coverage dictated where the ball went, and the Irish still spent a half getting in their own way before scoring on every second-half possession.

Freeman’s own diagnosis of the first-half run game matched what Nolan James Jr. said a day later about pressing early.

“But I think the biggest thing was probably, as we go back and watch it, the patience of the backs. I thought the first half, as you watched it, we were a little bit too aggressive and, you know, just trying to hit the hole instead of letting the play develop,” Freeman said.

That changed in the second half as the Irish reshuffled the offensive line and found their footing on offense.

“I think being able to emphasize that at halftime, you saw actually a little bit more patience in the second half and what we were looking for to get out of our running backs, and it obviously helped us in the second half,” Freeman said.

Rice Presents a Different Test

Rice will not give Carr the same picture Wisconsin did. Freeman said the Owls are difficult to prepare for on defense.

“It’s just non-traditional looks. They got a lot of transfers in the back end and, do a really good job of limiting explosive plays, and they only gave them three points last week,” Freeman said.