How CJ Carr's rough night vs. BYU raises new doubts about Notre Dame's title ceiling

The Notre Dame quarterback struggled downfield against an elite defense, leaving the Irish with no room for error as an early-November clash with No. 1 Miami looms

Oct 19, 2026 at 4:32 pm ET • 4 min read

PROVO, Utah -- Heading into Notre Dame's star-studded matchup against BYU, quarterback CJ Carr was seen as a trump card. 

The junior was projected, by some, as a first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft entering the season and one of the most talented signal-callers to come through South Bend in the modern era. Especially with relatively unheralded quarterback Bear Bachmeier on the other sideline, Carr's pedigree was viewed as a major mismatch. 

Instead, the gap in quarterback play proved decisive as BYU pulled off the 28-24 upset to stun Notre Dame. And suddenly, a sterling case for Carr as a quarterback becomes much more complicated. 

Carr came into the weekend clearing 63% completion and a 155 passer rating in every prior game this season. Against BYU, the first elite defense on the schedule, Carr looked mortal. The junior completed a career-low 55.1% of his passes, 27-of-49 overall on 5.3 yards per pass attempt. As BYU built a double-digit lead, Carr had a period of completing only 7 of 17 passes across the second and third quarters. 

"I don't know, it wasn't the preparation," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. "Some of those big plays that he usually hits, we weren't executing on. We weren't hitting them. I don't know if it's CJ's fault, I don't know if it's the wide receivers' fault or an accumulation of both." 

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Brad Crawford

Inconsistent downfield

On the first drive of the game, Carr connected on his first three passes to drive down the field, all short passes at the edges. Then, he dropped back on third down to target a wide-open Jordan Faison streaking towards the end zone. He airmailed the pass by several yards. 

That didn't improve as the game went on. 

Carr connected on only 30.4% of his passes further than 10 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. Heading into the matchup, he was hitting on 60.0% of such passes. Furthermore, Carr attempted only 7.8 passes 10+ yards downfield per game in six wins; he attempted 23 against BYU. 

BYU didn't record a sack on Carr, but he was pressured a career-high 13 times. As he tried to force the issue, Carr's performance continued to slip. 

Carr has done a tremendous job of performing against middling opponents. When faced with an elite defense that could force him to make difficult plays, he faltered, and Notre Dame followed. The inconsistency allowed BYU to focus on the running game, holding them to 2.4 yards per carry in the second half. 

The performance was in contrast to Bachmeier, who played the game of his life. The sophomore posted 224 yards passing, 45 yards rushing, 15 yards receiving and four touchdowns against the No. 1 defense in college football. Notre Dame reportedly strung Bachmeier along during the recruiting process; now he's in the top 10 in Heisman odds. 

"Out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly," the normally quiet Bachmeier said. "There was no way I was going to lose to those guys." 

Notre Dame's big-game woes

Since reaching the national championship game in 2024 with dual-threat Riley Leonard at quarterback, Notre Dame is 2-3 against AP Top 25 opponents with Carr at the helm. They lost all three games against teams ranked No. 16 or higher. 

Furthermore, Notre Dame has not beaten an AP top-10 opponent on the road since 2012, when Manti Te'o led the Irish to the national title game. 

Notre Dame has spent the Freeman era building the program into a behemoth. The Irish jumped from outside of the top 10 to No. 6 in the 247Sports Talent Composite under Freeman, and they're No. 2 in the blue-chip ratio. Notre Dame has the talent at every position to win a national championship. 

But in the loss to BYU -- ranked No. 53 in the talent composite -- it was execution that stood apart. 

"They used a lot of things that we hadn't seen on film," linebacker Drayk Bowen said. "They kind of used our weaknesses against us. Now we'll be able to go back, look at it and say, we really need to improve in these areas. It'll be a good bye week for us." 

Carr showed flashes of brilliance across the game. Notre Dame went 4-of-4 on fourth downs, which included multiple tight Carr passes. He marched the Irish down the field at the end of the game to set up a potential game-winning throw into the end zone. Notre Dame wouldn't have been close without his checks. 

But to reach the lofty expectations, Notre Dame needs more from its talented signal-caller. A home game against No. 1 Miami becomes a must-win, or the Irish could again find themselves outside of the College Football Playoff. 

"We've just gotta go back to work, do what we do, practice well all week," Carr said. "We'll try to continue to string things together through the bye week and to bounce back with whoever we've got next."