Notre Dame Quarterback CJ Carr Named A Heisman Favorite By Sporting News
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This is shaping up to be a dominant year in quarterback play in college football. One of the biggest names in the country is Notre Dame starting quarterback CJ Carr who many have tabbed as a preseason Heisman Trophy hopeful.
Several outlets like ESPN, Athlon Sports and FanDuel have named Carr as the outright favorite or in the tier one list of Heisman hopefuls. Sporting News recently released their preseason magazine and had the 6-2, 215-pound signal caller as one of their favorites to bring home the heralded trophy.
"Carr totaled 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and six interceptions in his first year as a starter," Bill Bender of Sporting News wrote. "The Irish are a true national championship contender. Carr had a 170.2 passer rating in November. Will he become Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner since Tim Brown in 1987?"
Their Heisman Trophy drought is one year longer than their national title drought, and Notre Dame could put the end to both of those this season. Carr had a strong year as a redshirt freshman, his first year in the starting lineup. The Irish lost their two season-opening games, one on the road against Miami 27-24 and one at home to Texas A&M 41-40. Despite two gut-wrenching losses, it was clear Notre Dame had 'their guy' under center.
Carr went on to put together some memorable performances throughout the 2025 season; he played a major role in their 10-game win streak to end the regular season. For the first time since 1966, the Fighting Irish racked up at least nine wins where all margins of victory were by double digits.
Along the way, the Saline, Michigan native had an outstanding performance on the road against Arkansas where he threw for 354 yards, completed 73.3% of his passes and threw four touchdowns. Two weeks later, he threw for 342 yards and two scores at home against NC State in a game the Irish won 36-7. Carr also had strong performances against Boston College, Pitt and Navy to end the season.
For the first time in his tenure, head coach Marcus Freeman has a returning signal caller under center heading into the season. Notre Dame is in a position to make a deep run in the playoffs, and has several avenues of motivation to pull from throughout the season when you factor in the playoff loss and the response to them sitting out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Carr is expected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country. He has the potential to engineer a season in South Bend that hasn't been done since 1988 and potentially win a Heisman Trophy along the way.
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