No. 21 Notre Dame went into Arkansas and the Fighting Irish rolled against the Razorbacks.
Some folks, your author included, expected that Arkansas would give the Irish a fight, even if Notre Dame ultimately emerged victorious. Instead, what seemed like it might be a close game early turned into a blowout as Notre Dame’s offense was nigh unstoppable and its much-maligned defense seemed improved, save for one drive.
Here are the five stars for Notre Dame today.
5 – Jeremiyah Love
Notre Dame’s Heisman hopeful running back had another heck of a day, with four touchdowns in the first half — two rushing and two passing. He finished with 57 rushing yards on 14 carries with a long of 15, and 5 catches for 70 yards and a long of 34.
These are the type of days that put a running back high on NFL draft boards.
4 – Jadarian Price
Not to be outdone, Notre Dame’s number two running back had 13 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, and he also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass.
The Love/Price 1-2 punch continues to drive the Fighting Irish.
3 – CJ Carr
Quarterback CJ Carr completed 22-of-34 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns, and he has to settle for third star because of his running backs. Even though Carr can run it a bit himself, including on one key third-down conversion early when the game was still in doubt.
If Carr continues to perform at this level and continues to eliminate rookie mistakes — today there was an inexcusable intentional grounding, though the game was already well in hand — and the two running backs continue to grind up defenses, this team really could bounce back from a rough start.
2 – Jordan Faison
The wide receiver had 7 catches for 89 yards and threw for 40 on a fake punt. He didn’t find the end zone but his day was still impressive nonetheless.
1 – Notre Dame defense
The much-maligned unit took a step forward today, though there are still some concerns, and Arkansas’ offense posed less of a threat than Notre Dame’s previous opponents — including Purdue.
Still, three sacks, a key fumble recovery, three passes defended, and a garbage-time interception aren’t bad. Especially with star cornerback Leonard Moore out with an injury. Perhaps a young secondary is gaining confidence and starting to understand defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s system.
On the other hand, the Razorbacks had some self-inflicted wounds in terms of penalties and dropped passes, and some of Notre Dame’s passes defensed came on last-second reaches from members of the secondary. Arkansas also had a drive early, when the game was still in doubt, in which it ran the ball at will.
There’s still a lot of work to be done, but perhaps this defense is improving. Let’s hope so.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: These are the five stars for Notre Dame against the Arkansas Razorbacks
Reporting by Tim Healey, Fighting Irish Wire / Fighting Irish Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
