Marcus Freeman raves about team-first mentality of CJ Carr

Notre Dame is back on track at 2-2 after dismantling Arkansas in Week 5. They went into Fayetteville, and Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish left their battle with the Razorbacks with a 56-13 win.

Much of that has to do with the play of quarterback CJ Carr. He’s been awesome in 2025, passing for 1,091 yards and nine touchdowns this season, while also rushing for a touchdown, as well.

Freeman raved about his quarterback following the win over Arkansas. He believes Carr’s team-first mentality and intense competitiveness will help Notre Dame reach all of their goals in 2025.

“I think there’s very few people that you come in contact with that are blessed with leadership as a competitive trait,” Freeman stated, via his postgame press conference. “I’m talking like — not normal, you know? Very few people have that competitive trait — they’re so competitive. They just want to find — here’s what the thing is with CJ: it’s more important at for us to win than it is for him to play well. That’s his mindset.

“He’s so competitive. ‘I want to do whatever it takes to make sure this offense performs well and we win. That’s more important than how many yards I throw for,’ and all of these different things. He wants to do whatever it takes to win. He’s one of those rare individuals that’s just ultra, ultra competitive. I think that’s the driving force to his preparation, and the way he practices.” 

Moving forward, Carr will look to stay hot as Notre Dame’s schedule gets a bit easier. They’ll face Boise State this coming weekend, and then there’s a date with NC State to follow. However, it’s nothing compared to the gauntlet they faced to begin the season.

With Carr under center, Notre Dame will be ready for whatever’s thrown at him. He doesn’t even believe he’s playing his best football right now, and that’s a scary idea for the Fighting Irish’s opponents.

“Anywhere you look, there’s guys that will win one-on-one matchups. And I thought we showed it out there today,” Carr said, via The Athletic. “And there are still three or four balls left on the table that we can come down with, and that I can make better throws on. It can be even more than what we showed.”

We’ll see what Carr has in store for the remainder of the season. If it’s anything like what he’s already shown, Notre Dame fans better buckle up and enjoy the ride.