Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow can stop the steady progress of Notre Dame QB CJ Carr | Analysis
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SOUTH BEND — On a November night of steady rain and then what the meteorologists call wintry mix at Notre Dame Stadium, CJ Carr felt right at home.
“I love it; I love it,” the quarterback of Notre Dame football said after Saturday’s 49-10 blasting of Navy. “I talk about this with my dad a lot. When you see a Southern quarterback on the other side, it’s almost like, ‘I can take him. I’m better than him.’ “
This wasn’t a direct shot at Navy counterpart Braxton Woodson, the Orlando-area product who was pressed into service when senior quarterback Blake Horvath was a game-time scratch for the Midshipmen.
It’s just that Carr, the redshirt freshman from Saline, Michigan, has a different definition of “football weather” than many of his sunbaked rivals from the 7-on-7 recruiting circuit. His father, former Michigan quarterback Jason Carr, made sure of that.
“Just because you’re from Michigan, you’re from the Midwest,” CJ Carr said. “You’ve seen the snow. You can do it all.”
Now 7-2 as the Irish starter, with a seven-game winning streak and a projected spot in the College Football Playoff, Carr could exhale just a bit after Saturday’s relative walkover.
With Navy loading the box to slow Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, Carr wasted little time going downfield to his favorite target, towering wideout Malachi Fields. Four snaps in, those two hooked up on a 52-yard post pattern, and the Irish offense was off and running.
Carr went 13-of-16 passing for 218 yards and three touchdowns before flipping the Ferrari’s keys to backup Kenny Minchey for the final quarter. Carr’s showing included a rare Fields drop (just his second all year) and a pair of downfield incompletions that could easily have drawn another flag or two on an overmatched Navy secondary.
Whatever caused Carr to be off target in the early going of a rainy night against USC back in mid-October has since been fixed. With the kickoff temperature of 41 degrees gradually dropping into the 30s by the second half, Carr was in his element.
“I’ve played in the rain, in the snow,” he said. “It’s not fun. You’d rather be in the sunshine, but you know you can handle the situation. We’ve been there.”
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow seem to bother CJ Carr
In fairness, Notre Dame has won a ton of games over the previous seven seasons with the likes of Ian Book (northern California), Sam Hartman (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Riley Leonard (Fairhope, Alabama) taking snaps.
They seemed to do just fine on the cold days as well.
Still, it seems like an encouraging sign as foul-weather season arrives that Notre Dame’s first-year starting quarterback is so comfortable in the slop. A trip to 24th-ranked Pittsburgh is up next, although the early forecast for that noon kickoff has temps in the mid-40s with clear skies.
Asked what it’s like to have a Midwestern quarterback in his huddle with snow coming down, Fields smiled.
”I know he’s not going to flinch,” Fields said after his 36th straight game with a catch. “I know he’s going to stand in there and deal, just knowing that he’s been through it before. He’s had some experience with it.”
Facing the nation’s 112th-ranked coverage unit, according to Pro Football Focus, Carr spread the wealth on an uber-efficient passing night. His connected with six different targets, doling out touchdown passes to Jordan Faison, KK Smith and Ty Washington.
The latter marked the first Irish touchdown grab by a tight end this year, and it gave the Carr-led offense four scores in as many red zone trips. For a group that entered tied for 41st in red zone efficiency, that was significant.
Fields, the graduate transfer from Virginia, said he’s seen “immaculate growth” in Carr as the season has progressed.
“He’s seeing everything so well,” Fields said. “He’s taking the challenges, never flinching, never hesitating. He’s out there having fun, just playing ball.”
Before facing Boston College on the road to open the month, Carr had his short hairdo sheared off in an apparent nod to Aang, the main character from the animated television series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Revered as the only person capable of using all four “bending arts” — air, water, earth and fire — Aang is said to be determined, brave and spiritual.
That sounds a lot like Carr as he heads down the homestretch.
Even with his interior offensive line down three starters since the summer, he enjoyed another night of relative peace in the pocket against Navy.
“I was thinking about that at halftime actually,” he said. “I was trying to think if I had gotten, not even hit, but like touched by anyone. I hadn’t. Those guys in there did an unbelievable job and I’m thankful to have them.”
The feeling is surely mutual.
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 South Bend Tribune: Why Notre Dame QB CJ Carr smiles when he sees winter on the way | Analysis
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