ESPN Comment On CJ Carr's Michigan State Performance Shows A Lazy Lack Of Ball Knowledge
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I should probably just leave this alone and take my own advice, avoid the silly clickbait nonsense that comes from the national media. This is especially true of ESPN, who I've complained about for years in regard to how they evaluate college football, how they discuss college football and how everything has turned into driving narratives and not really providing real analysis of the game.
But a recent comment from David Hale, a "reporter" from ESPN who lives in ACC country and loves taking silly shots at Notre Dame, just can't go without a response.
In the latest Power Rankings from ESPN, Notre Dame dropped down to No. 3 after its 27-10 win over Michigan State. In its "recap" of the win, Hale had the audacity to make the following comment about Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr:
"CJ Carr was ordinary (234 yards, no TDs) and the ground game again was more quantity than quality, though Nolan James Jr. did rack up 121 yards rushing. Instead, it was the defense that really shined for the Irish in a 27-10 win over Michigan State. Notre Dame held the Spartans to 167 yards — making it the first time the Irish have held back-to-back opponents to less than 200 total yards since the first two games of the 2023 season. Notre Dame had four sacks and two interceptions, and utterly swallowed Michigan State's ground game. If it wasn't exactly a dominant win, it was yet another reminder that the Irish can beat teams in a lot of ways, and they don't need to always rely on Carr to be exceptional to come away with an easy victory."
I have no problem with Notre Dame dropping down to No. 3 in the latest rankings. Notre Dame has been dominant in its three wins, but none of those wins compare to Texas beating Ohio State, or Ole Miss beating Louisville and LSU. The issue with this absurd comment is that he called Carr's performance absurd. I grow tired of ESPN employing college football writers who clearly know absolutely nothing about college football.
Was Carr's performance so good that it will be what we look back on and say, "That game won him the Heisman?" No, of course not, but to call his performance ordinary tells us three things.
1) Hale did not watch the game and is evaluating Notre Dame off a box score. 2) Hale is one of those lazy reporters who only looks at raw data (yards, TD), which shows a simplistic and shallow understanding of football, including the fact that rushing touchdowns count as much as passing touchdowns. 3) Hale has a shallow and simplistic understanding of football, which is sadly all too common over there.
Carr's 234 yards aren't knock your socks off numbers, but even if that's all you evaluate it's far from ordinary. But more importantly, it's obvious that Hale is evaluating a team without actually watching the game, which is embarrassing, although not surprising.
Carr completed 75-percent of his passes, including a perfectly placed 61-yard bomb at the start of the game and a brilliant 39-yard Go route completion to help put Michigan State away. For the game, Carr completed 75-percent of his passes and averaged 9.8 yards per attempt. Those are numbers, that if replicated, would have ranked No. 2 and No. 1 nationally last season, respectively. It should also be noted that 234 yards is about 14 yards more than what last year's Heisman Trophy winner – Fernando Mendoza – averaged per game. It's more yards than Mendoza threw for in any of the six games he played against a ranked opponent last season. Carr also completed a pair of 4th-down attempts that set up a rushing touchdown.
But sure, let's assume that because he didn't actually throw the ball into the end zone at the end of the drive, he wasn't outstanding. Carr also hit big throws on each of Notre Dame's touchdown drives, which is the sole reason the Irish got into the scoring zone in the first place.
Anyone that watched that football game knows that Carr was outstanding in the game, and if there is a complaint about the performance it's the fact that offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock isn't allowing Carr to carry the offense even more with his arm. He was precise as a passer, was an excellent decision maker and managed the offense all night long. Any issues Notre Dame had putting the ball in the end zone were more about the issues with the run game, especially the play of the offensive line.
Carr was outstanding in the game, not ordinary, and anyone that actually watched the game and understands football would know that. But I shouldn't be surprised that this "analysis" was so shallow and useless, considering the source.
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