One of the main tasks for Notre Dame football this offseason was to replace quarterback Riley Leonard, who departed to the NFL after leading the Fighting Irish all the way to the national championship game last season. After Steve Angeli transferred to Syracuse following spring practice, questions arose about who would be the new man under center for Marcus Freeman and company.
Now, Freeman and his staff have come to a final decision. CJ Carr will be the Week 1 starter for Notre Dame after beating out Kenny Minchey in a tightly-contested battle, according to On3 Sports.
Carr was always thought to be the favorite to win the job, but Minchey has been very impressive in fall camp and gave Carr a run for his money. However, it will be the freshman taking the first snaps of the season for Notre Dame when the regular season gets underway against Miami on. Aug. 31.
Despite all of the roster turnover in South Bend this fall, Notre Dame still has very high expectations coming into this season. Freeman's squad came in at No. 6 in the preseason AP top 25 poll, so voters are still clearly expecting big things from the Irish this fall.
The opener won't be easy, especially in the first start for the freshman quarterback. Miami came in at No. 10 in the preseason poll and will be debuting Carson Beck as its new quarterback, so it will be a heavyweight fight between two old rivals to get the season started.
Carr is a former four-star recruit who is listed at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and can really spin it, so the Irish are hoping that he can step in and provide something close to what Leonard gave them last season. Notre Dame does still have star running back Jeremiah Love to lean on, so expect a heavy dose of the ground game in a few weeks when the season officially gets underway.
