CJ Carr & Karson Hobbs: Takeaways, standouts from Notre Dame football Blue-Gold Game
Behind Marcus Freeman's leadership style that lifted Notre Dame football
Notre Dame is on the cusp of its first national title since 1988. That's thanks to head coach Marcus Freeman, who brought the Irish here in his third season. Riley Leonard attested some success to Freeman's leadership style.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame football started the spring by opening a quarterback battle and needing players to fill on for the departed stars on defense.
At the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday, those Irish players got a chance to put it together in front of a crowd.
Here are some takeaways and standout players from Notre Dame's Blue-Gold Game on Saturday.
CJ Carr was the best QB on the day
If there was ever any doubt CJ Carr was the best quarterback on the Notre Dame roster, Carr made sure everyone knew on his first drive of the spring game.
Carr was the third quarterback to get playing time Saturday after Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey. On his first and second throws of the day, he dropped two dimes to Irish tight ends.
The first was a 23-yard toss to Kevin Bauman that went over the heads of two defensive backs. The second was a 24-yard toss that dropped into Jack Larsen’s hands between a Notre Dame defensive back and the sidelines.
Carr led the Notre Dame offense to a field goal on a drive that started at the five-yard line. He also scored the first touchdown on a short toss to Elijah Burress.
Carr also capped the day with a touchdown pass to Xavier Southall. His final statline: 14 of 19 passes, 170 yard, two touchdowns and one interception.
Carr was sidelined for most of the 2024 season with an elbow injury, but is very clearly healthy after what he was able to show in spring practices and in the Blue-Gold Game.
It was an impressive reminder that Carr was a five-star prospect for a reason. He’s also the favorite to win the starting quarterback job over Angeli and Minchey, taking over for Riley Leonard.
Karson Hobbs capitalizes standout spring with stand out Blue-Gold game
Losing Benjamin Morrison to the NFL Draft was a tough blow for Notre Dame, but they might have the next big thing on their roster.
At this time last year, cornerback Karson Hobbs was visiting during the Blue-Gold Game. Now, Hobbs was showing off in the 2025 edition. Hobbs was all over the field, breaking up passes on multiple drives.
His best play came defending KK Smith. The offense dialed up a deep throw from Minchey to Smith, but Hobbs had the skill and athleticism to come back and make the play.
Hobbs has impressed across plenty of spring practices, too. He earned playing time on Notre Dame’s run to the national championship game after Morrison was injured and Jaden Mickey entered the transfer portal.
Hobb impressed then but was overshadowed by Leonard Moore’s rise to be an All-American. He’s been shining this spring, and shined bright on Saturday.
More Blue-Gold Game standouts
Carr threw the first score of the day, but wide receiver Elijah Burress caught it. Burress hauled in a short pass and stretched for a 2-yard touchdown.
Stud defensive end Bryce Young heard his name called in the first drive on a tackle for loss followed up by a sack that ended the drive.
Safety Luke Talich was backed up on his own goal-line, but he stuffed Aneyas Williams on consecutive plays to force a fourth down and goal and force a turnover on downs.
Running backs Nolan James Jr., Jadarian Price and Kedric Young all made chunk plays. Young and James made big gains on pass plays.
Ben Minich undercut a Carr pass and intercepted it on what was an impressive play by the safety in one-on-one coverage.