MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — One play from CJ Carr’s losing debut as Notre Dame starting quarterback told you all you needed to know about his status as a work in progress.
It wasn’t his first college interception, which came early in the fourth quarter on a quick-out tip-drill into rush-hour traffic along the right sideline. That gave No. 10 Miami a short field and a chance to rebuild a 10-point cushion on its way to a 27-24 win on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
It wasn’t his game-tying 7-yard touchdown run with 3:21 left or any of his 10 other official rushing attempts, many of them Riley Leonard-style runs up the gut.
Oh, no. It was that wild scramble that came on third-and-goal from the Miami 7 with five minutes and change left in the first half.
The play resulted in a scoring toss to fellow 2024 signee Micah Gilbert, tying the game at 7, but first Carr went back, back, back — whirling and swerving as he avoided the ferocious Miami pass rush.
At the same time, Carr was flirting with disaster that could easily have cost the Irish three certain points, their first of the night.
What were Irish coach Marcus Freeman’s thoughts during that run-on sentence of a red-zone play?
“Throw it away,” Freeman said. “Throw it away. Throw it away.”
And?
“I was like, ‘Throw it away,’“ he said again, perhaps for emphasis or maybe out of lingering shock that Carr’s mad improvisation actually worked.
“I said, ‘Throw it away,’“ Freeman said. “Then, ‘Oh, great job.’“
The Favre-ian moment at once evoked images of an early career Bob Griese, not to mention Sir Francis Tarkenton, as Carr bought time for brilliance.
All of it was lifted directly from the classic stages of dread for basketball coaches with conscience-free bombardiers in their lineup: No, no, no … great shot!
“Now, he’s out there,” Freeman said. “I couldn’t see exactly what was going on. I’m watching him and I watched him spin out, and usually when you’re feeling pressure it’s like, ‘Throw the ball away. Don’t throw the ball across your body.’“
‘Those are plays that CJ Carr can make’
A similar play from last October against Georgia Tech, a 31-13 win for the Irish, resulted in Leonard flipping the ball safely out of bounds, right to Freeman’s waiting stone hands on the sideline.
In this case, Carr was scrambling in the same direction Leonard had, but Freeman was on the opposite sideline. The fourth-year coach had nothing but silent prayer and telepathy at his disposal.
Neither worked.
“(Carr) kept his eyes downfield and made a play,” Freeman said. “We don’t draw ‘em up like that, but those are plays that CJ Carr can make. He made a good amount of them tonight.”
That Freeman could smile as he told the story, even with his team suddenly 0-1, told you plenty about how he feels about his new quarterback.
“Made some mistakes, like any first-time quarterback may make,” Freeman said. “But the ceiling is extremely high and his future is bright.”
Carr finished 19-of-30 passing for 221 yards and two scores. Miami was credited with three sacks at his expense, although Carr brought a couple of those upon himself with intentional groundings.
Is that cross-body stuff in his regular arsenal?
“When it’s needed, I guess,” Carr said somewhat sheepishly. “I felt backside pressure. Just tried to make a guy miss, did it, and Micah Gilbert made a great catch, a great effort to get open in the end zone. Ended in seven.”
Maybe this was what Freeman was referencing Aug. 26 when he mentioned Carr’s self-confidence as a passer.
“He is a guy that’s very confident,” he said, “at some points maybe a little overconfident.”
Maybe this was what right tackle Aamil Wagner was referencing the following day when he said of Carr’s off-platform throws: “I’ve seen it multiple times. … This is a guy that understands football at a high level. When you combine that with extreme arm talent like he has, magical plays just happen.”
There should be plenty more magic with Carr at the controls of this offense over the next 3-4 years, but he wasn’t worried about any of that after losing this QB showdown with Miami’s uber-experienced Carson Beck.
Notre Dame must wait 13 days to play its home opener against Texas A&M, but Carr’s internal supercomputer was already whirring.
“We attack it tonight; we attack it tomorrow,” he said. “(Sunday) wasn’t good enough out of me specifically. We have to get better.”
And then he smiled ever so slightly and shared a truism he’s gleaned from his father Jason, a former Michigan quarterback.
“My dad always says the only way to get rid of a loss,” Carr said, “is with a win.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: CJ Carr makes ‘magical plays just happen’ but believes he ‘wasn’t good enough’ in Notre Dame debut
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
