ESPN analyst Greg McElroy reacts to CJ Carr’s impressive debut for Notre Dame

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr earned the approval of one of college football’s most respected analysts following his first career start Sunday night.

Greg McElroy, a former Alabama starting quarterback and current ESPN analyst, was on the broadcast for the Irish’s Week 1 game against Miami. Afterward, McElroy shared his thoughts on Always College Football about the redshirt freshman passer’s performance at Hard Rock Stadium. His assessment painted an encouraging picture of Carr’s debut.

“What was the big question about Notre Dame coming into the game?” McElroy said. “It was the quarterback, right? CJ Carr, with kind of a unique plan early on of a short passing attack, he kind of grew up before our eyes.

“He showcased some mobility that we weren’t really sure he had. He was able to keep some plays alive, did a good job in the scramble drill — did have the interception, but that was really more of a great defensive play than it was a poor throw or a poor decision.”

Against the now-No. 5 Hurricanes, Carr completed 19 of 30 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns, while throwing 1 interception in his first true collegiate debut. Last season, he played four snaps on the final drive of Notre Dame’s 66-7 win at Purdue but did not attempt a pass.

Sunday night’s game with McElroy on the call was a much different environment.

A record-setting 66,793 fans — mostly in favor of Miami — filled Hard Rock Stadium for the rivalry game. Notre Dame never led and trailed by 10 points with under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Still, Carr engineered a comeback to tie the game with 3:21 to play, which ultimately fell short. The Hurricanes answered with a late field goal and sealed the win.

“There were a couple of things he’d probably like to have back,” McElroy said. “But for a first start, though, against a new defensive coordinator when you’re preparing all week and you’re not really knowing what you’re going to get. I thought he handled the environment really well.”

McElroy wants Notre Dame football’s best offensive playmakers more involved

McElroy, who joined ESPN in 2014, has a unique familiarity with the Irish. Last season, he served as the television color commentator for four of their games. Three of those were in the College Football Playoff. He also called the national championship game on the radio, featuring Notre Dame vs. Ohio State.

Those experiences exposed him to Jeremiyah Love, who entered this season widely regarded as college football’s top running back. However, the Irish junior only had 14 touches that totaled 59 yards in Week 1. McElroy said that needs to change moving forward.

“The other guy that I think needs to be more involved in the future is Jeremiyah Love,” McElroy said. “Now, they bottled him up in the run game pretty good at times, but some of the looks that Jadarian Price got there on the edges, where they’re kind of running off tackle, I don’t feel like Jeremiyah Love got enough touches on the edges, on the perimeter.

“I think they tried to take the fight right to Miami, and Miami was up to the task. So perimeter run game is going to be something I think they’ll utilize a little more as the season goes along.”

According to Pro Football Focus, only three of Love’s carries came outside the tight end. He totaled 10 yards on those runs.

In addition to Love, reporters and analysts projected Virginia transfer wide receiver Malachi Fields as one of Notre Dame’s top weapons. Yet in his Irish debut, he had only 3 catches for 48 yards, one of which resulted in a lost fumble. McElroy wants to see the fifth-year pass-catcher more involved, too.

“I do think there needs to be more of a point made to get Malachi Fields the ball,” McElroy said. “Now, he did have the fumble early on. He did have the miraculous catch down the right sideline a little later on. There were some good moments from him, but that guy’s a difference maker.

“He needs to get more looks. He probably needs to get more touches. They need to manufacture ways to get him in one-on-one situations because he’s going to win those contested catch situations.”

In four years at Virginia, Fields caught 24 of 41 contested passes, leading to comparisons to Michael Floyd after he arrived in South Bend in June. Carr only targeted him those three times in Week 1.

McElroy breaks down the Notre Dame defense

Notre Dame’s game against Miami also featured Chris Ash’s debut as defensive coordinator. McElroy noted that Chris Ash’s scheme differed from what the Irish ran under Al Golden. After the season, Golden returned to the Cincinnati Bengals to become their defensive coordinator. Golden previously served as the Bengals’ linebacker coach before joining Notre Dame as DC in 2022.

“I look at Notre Dame’s defense, and I think the goal of this offseason to become more multiple kind of played out,” McElroy said. “We saw a lot less man, we saw mixing in quite a bit of zone coverage, which is not something we saw very much of last year.

“At times, it was helpful, and at times, it was not really well played. There were a couple easy third downs given up because they decided to get in zone. So I’ll be curious to see as Chris Ash, the new defensive coordinator, continues to get to know his personnel — I bet you anything, they’ll probably revert back to becoming a little bit more man-centric.”

McElroy believes Notre Dame could run more man coverage on defense because of its personnel. In his opinion, the choice to run zone coverage vs. Miami was partly a result of wanting to evolve as a defense.

“They have the base zone principles installed, in the event in which they’re playing against (Ohio State wide receiver) Jeremiah Smith, for example,” McElroy said. “In four days, you can’t implement a brand new style of defense. Well, you don’t want to play man coverage against Jeremiah Smith, right? You want to play some zone.

“Well, they did that and focused on that all offseason, and they were more multiple. But it did leave them vulnerable at times against a veteran quarterback in Carson Beck.”

Beck found success against the Irish, completing 20 of 31 passes for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns. As a result of his effectiveness, McElroy wondered how the Irish would respond with their defensive strategy the rest of the season.

“So, we’ll see how this Notre Dame defense evolves as the season goes along,” McElroy said, “because I would imagine we’ll see more man here moving forward because they still have locked down coverability on the outside.”

McElroy still believes in the Irish

Though Notre Dame started the season with a loss, McElroy left Sunday night’s game optimistic about the trajectory of its season. After all, he saw most of last season unfold firsthand, so a repeat of it would hardly be a surprise.

“Nothing is lost at this point,” McElroy said. “They lost a hard-fought battle on the road. It happens in college football. This is a breakthrough win for Miami, no doubt about it. But if you look at Notre Dame, they have responded really well to adversity in the past. And I would imagine they will again in the future.

“They also, within this game, responded to adversity tremendously well. There was a period in the game in which Miami had the ball for 13, 14 minutes. And Notre Dame had the ball for 12 seconds. And that was to take a knee at the end of half … From that point, that 13-minute span, went from a tie ball game at 7-7 to 21-7. The game could have gotten sideways in an instant.

“But this Notre Dame team, you can just never count out. They make the plays, they climb back in the game, and all of a sudden, it becomes interesting there down the stretch. So I still remain extremely optimistic about what the Irish can accomplish.”