Notre Dame is now 8-2, with a playoff berth so close they can practically reach out and grab it, after a 37-15 rout of old pal Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers on the road. This was Notre Dame’s last
opportunity to make a big statement to the CFP committee and they did so emphatically, in spite of some still-present flaws that reared their heads at various points in the game. We will talk about things on both sides of that ledger in today’s entry despite the dominant nature of yesterday’s win over a pretty good team, as the Irish will now have two more games to address them in preparation for a hopeful CFP run. Let’s get into it.
The Carr-Coaster
More than any other this year, this game probably epitomized freshman-year CJ Carr. By which I mean: the future looks incredibly bright with him at quarterback, the great things about his game jumped off the page and far outweighed the negatives, and also there were a few blemishes that really should make Irish fans grateful they can still lean on the running game and defense that this team has for the remainder of this season. Carr’s numbers on the day were pedestrian (21/23 for 212 yards) and his inconsistency on the day was perhaps best marked by Marcus Freeman’s willingness to keep him out there with the game in hand in the fourth quarter to help him settle down and keep gaining experience. His two interceptions were much like the ones he had thrown earlier this year, born either of a misplaced need to make an impossible play rather than check down, or an ill-considered determination to throw the ball where it was drawn up to go, regardless of who was in the way – the latter of which handed Pitt six points.
But when Carr was good yesterday, boy was he good. He found Malachi Fields downfield on a couple balls that only big #0 could have caught because of Carr’s placement, one of which was for a touchdown. He formed a winning connection with Eli Raridon, a consistent chain mover throughout the day (Carr himself moved the chains through the air 11 times, a key metric for a team that has often struggled on 3rd-and-medium or greater). He ran the ball with surprising effectiveness a few times, including for a touchdown. He also showed what may well be the most important quality for any quarterback to have, which was the ability to move on from a mistake – both of his interceptions were followed up by long, well-executed drives (the first was not successful due to failed fourth-down attempt at the goal line, which is more fairly attributed to Mike Denbrock’s play-calling and Javon McIntyre’s quality coverage than Carr).
Overall, Carr still looks the part of a quarterback who can lead Notre Dame to many wins in 2025 and beyond – but the growing pains are still apparent and need to be worked around for the time being.
Burnham’s Breakout
It’s hard to pick out a great individual performance to recognize from Chris Ash’s defense in this game. The Irish were angry and aggressive at every level, harassing Mason Heintschel all afternoon and stifling Pitt’s running game while locking down their receivers in coverage (perhaps the game’s defining moment was Adon Shuler’s crushing PBU to force a 4th and long on Pitt’s first drive). But I’m going to have to give it to a guy I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned yet this year in Joshua Burnham, who was the most impressive of Notre Dame’s pass rushers on a day where pretty much everyone was getting pressure.
As the season has gone on, Burnham has become a force to be reckoned with at end opposite Boubacar Traore, and in recent games has even seemed to surpass Traore in terms of production and trust from Notre Dame’s defensive staff. His output on Saturday was a good indicator as to why. As mentioned, Heintschel was harassed all afternoon, but actually proved fairly elusive. The Irish notched four sacks but could have had many, many more, had they not just missed the scrappy freshman in the backfield. On a day like that you have to give it to the guy who wrapped him up twice (Burnham) and added another TFL in the running game. Burnham might not be as explosive as Traore, but his sure tackling has made him a valuable and dangerous asset along the front line for an Irish pass rush that has gradually added more teeth throughout the year.
We Have to Talk About It
I try not to use this column to talk about incredibly obvious things that happened in these games, as you are no doubt already aware of them. I could reserve space every week about how amazing Jeremiyah Love is and I don’t, not because he isn’t but because that wouldn’t really be adding value to you, the reader, and it’s for that same reason that I haven’t brought up Notre Dame’s kicking game in recent weeks. But it does have to be addressed, because it is a potentially fatal weakness. The Irish were actually in a similar position at this point last season and did succeed in righting the ship, and thank God they did because Mitch Jeter’s leg proved absolutely vital in games against Georgia (3 field goals) and Penn State (2, one of which won the game in the final seconds). If Marcus Freeman wishes to have similar success in the playoff, he will likely need to engineer a similar turnaround.
Erik Schmidt only missed one kick on the day, a 42-yard field goal on Notre Dame’s opening drive, but he has yet to make a field goal this season, and is just now rounding into form on extra points. As of now, opposing defenses have no reason to believe Notre Dame has a kicker capable of making a kick any longer than that, and the Irish have no reason to believe they can do so either. That’s not a big deal when you’re winning games by 20+ points, but it starts to become a pretty serious disadvantage when you are forming strategies for close games.
Again, if the Irish expect to win in the playoffs they need Schmidt to find his confidence and his form. This is why I was actually surprised and disappointed to see the Irish attempt a couple fourth-down conversions in the red zone instead of kicking a short field goal – not because it was excessive or classless or anything like that (it wasn’t and any Pitt fan saying it was is a baby) but because those were opportunities to get the young kicker a made field goal under his belt and exorcise some of the demons that are no doubt swirling around in his mind, developing a strategically vital aspect of Notre Dame’s game.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Notre Dame’s execution on special teams was perhaps its biggest advantage in last year’s playoffs, and we’re at the point in the season now where there isn’t much more time for a similar one to be honed. Let’s hope the Irish are able to figure that out in the next couple weeks.
