Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr is not out for revenge against the Miami Hurricanes ahead of the 2026 season. He said as much when he recently addressed the narrative for the first time since the Hurricanes were allowed into the College Football Playoff over the Fighting Irish.
“It’s the year of Notre Dame, we’re worried about ourselves,” Carr said on the "Triple Option" podcast. “We’re not worried about anyone else.... We’ve got a lot of time before Game 1, and so we’re not worried about the teams that we played last year or the results of last year."
However, that does not mean that Notre Dame has forgotten about it. And whether it is admitted or not, it is easy to get the sense this team has a bit of a chip on its shoulder after what occurred with the postseason 'snub.'
“We wanna keep the pain from not making it into the playoffs, but we wanna use that to propel us forward," Carr continued. "It’s not about anyone else, it’s about reaching our full potential."
Notre Dame is preparing to move forward, focusing only on themselves and not Miami for the 2026 season
The 27-24 loss to Miami in the first week of the 2025 season was what most point to as the nail in the coffin for Notre Dame's CFP hopes, at least looking back when all was said and done. To say it is not a driving factor in the Fighting Irish making a successful run in 2026 is almost delusional, but it does seem they are committed to refocusing, as difficult as that may realistically be.
So, what are the chances Notre Dame performs well enough to earn themselves a spot in the College Football Playoff? Well, one of the biggest factors will be Carr himself. Notre Dame has not had a signal-caller of his caliber in quite some time. During his first year as a starter, Carr finished with a 66.6% completion rate, passing for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also had three touchdowns on the ground.
That's a solid touchdown-to-interception ratio for any quarterback, especially a newcomer like Carr.
He is expected to expound upon that in a major way, with ESPN's Jordan Reid projecting he will be taken off the board at No. 4 overall in his way-too-early mock for the 2027 NFL Draft. If that happens, he will be the first quarterback to be selected in the first round that Notre Dame has had since Brady Quinn was taken at 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns. Coincidentally, Reid has him headed to the exact same team.
"Every year a QB ascends from the pack and shoots up the draft," Reid included in his evaluation of the quarterback. "Carr could be that guy in 2027 after an encouraging first season as a starter... He has a snappy release and excellent command at the line. And Carr has polished throwing mechanics, with his eyes, base and throwing motion all tying together."
Carr isn't the only player who will be making noise for Notre Dame in 2026, though. Cornerback Leonard Moore and safety Tae Johnson are also expected to be first-rounders, and have been impact players on the defensive side of the ball.
Notre Dame looks like it can play complementary football at high level on paper ahead of the coming season. But, time will tell whether or not the team is able to do it well enough in real action to edge their way into the CFP.
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