PROVO, Utah -- Heading into Notre Dame's star-studded matchup against BYU, quarterback CJ Carr was seen as a trump card. The junior was projected, by some, as a first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft entering the season and one of the most talented signal-callers to come through South Bend in the modern era. Especially with relatively unheralded quarterback Bear Bachmeier on the other sideline, Carr's pedigree was viewed as a major mismatch.
Instead, the gap in quarterback play proved decisive as BYU pulled off the 28-24 upset to stun Notre Dame. And suddenly, a sterling case for Carr as a quarterback becomes much more complicated. Carr came into the weekend clearing 63% completion and a 155 passer rating in every prior game this season.
Against BYU, the first elite defense on the schedule, Carr looked mortal. The junior completed a career-low 55.1% of his passes, 27-of-49 overall on 5.3 yards per pass attempt. As BYU built a double-digit lead, Carr had a period of completing only 7 of 17 passes across the second and third quarters.
"I don't know, it wasn't the preparation," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. "Some of those big plays that he usually hits, we weren't executing on. I don't know if it's CJ's fault, I don't know if it's the wide receivers' fault or an accumulation of both." On the first drive of the game, Carr connected on his first three passes to drive down the field, all short passes at the edges.
Then, he dropped back on third down to target a wide-open Jordan Faison streaking towards the end zone. He airmailed the pass by several yards. That didn't improve as the game went on.
Carr connected on only 30.4% of his passes further than 10 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. Heading into the matchup, he was hitting on 60.0% of such passes. Furthermore, Carr attempted only 7.8 passes 10+ yards downfield per game in six wins; he attempted 23 against BYU.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
