When the College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday, Notre Dame was one of the biggest losers in the field. The Fighting Irish sit at No. 11 with only one loss against No. 9 BYU, but without quality wins to their name. One year after finishing as the first team out of the College Football Playoff, the Fighting Irish are firmly on the bubble.
Notre Dame projects as the last team in and can't afford any more slip-ups. Now, a Saturday matchup against No. 1 Miami becomes a must-win game. And more importantly, it marks the most important game of quarterback CJ Carr's career.
Carr has been one of the steadiest quarterbacks in college football, completing 67% of his passes with an 18-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. His 82.7 QBR is eighth-best in college football, adjusted for competition. But in the Fighting Irish's lone quality matchup against the Cougars, Carr was lackluster.
The junior completed only 55% of his passes -- 27-for-49 -- the lowest completion percentage of his career on the most pass attempts in his career. There was a stretch in the second and third quarters that he hit only 7 of 17 passes, which BYU used to build a double-digit lead in Provo. BYU has one of the best passing defenses in college football, holding opponents to 5.5 yards per attempt, the second-best mark in the sport.
And it's a concerning trend for Notre Dame's highest-profile quarterback in decades. Notre Dame has breezed through largely manageable competition the past two years with Carr playing efficient football. The Fighting Irish are a combined 17-3 over the past two seasons.
But when they play against the best, Carr hasn't looked the part of a first-round pick. Carr completes only 61% of his passes against ranked opponents and hits 6.6 yards per attempt. In unranked games, he's sitting at 69% completion and 10.0 yards per attempt.
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