Marcus Freeman explains how Notre Dame can 'take pressure off' of CJ Carr in first start

Notre Dame QB CJ Carr has just started his first game for the Fighting Irish with their opener at Miami having kicked off from Coral Gables. However, in the first start of his career, Marcus Freeman isn’t expecting any more from him than being himself.

Ahead of the opening kick, Freeman spoke with ESPN’s Molly McGrath about how his team could make it easy on their redshirt freshman at quarterback. He said it’ll be a team effort in doing things around him to help him out. But, also, Freeman wants Carr to play within himself and, in the end, that’d be enough for the Irish to win tonight over the Hurricanes.

“Yeah, we’ve got to take pressure off of him,” said Freeman. “We’ve got to be able to establish the run game, or give him easy access throws. Got to play really good defense.”

“You know, what I told him? His best is good enough. Like, just go be you, man. He’s a special player,” Freeman added. “And, you don’t have to win the game for us. Just do your job.”

Across the field, Mario Cristobal was asked how, in turn, Miami would defend the young quarterback in Carr. He expects their offense to be well-run by him and around him, which’ll make it a big task tonight for the Hurricanes’ defense.

“He’s got a lot of weapons around him and they’re very systematic,” Cristobal said on the opposite side. “We expect nothing but their best so we’ve got to be at our best.”

As of the latest from inside Hard Rock Stadium, Carr is 4-6 (66.6%) for 32 yards after their opening drive. However, it lasted seven plays before the Irish had to punt to end that first possession, with his second drive ending after one play as a pass he completed resulted in a lost fumble by WR Malachi Fields. All in all, it’s been a bit of a chaotic start in this first quarter that both teams are having to play through, including Carr.

There’s a lot of potential there with Carr, who won their quarterback competition this offseason over Kenny Minchey. He’s a former four-star and top-ten quarterback in his class, who made one appearance last year as a reserve before taking the job for this fall.

That said, Carr has a lot to learn as he plays his second game ever and his debut as a starter in college football. That’s why he’ll need to lean on the rest of the roster around him, specifically Jeremiyah Love, one of the best running backs in the nation, and an Irish defense, one of the better units in the country, while he figures it out over the course of this season, starting tonight in a top-ten matchup at Miami.