Joel Klatt’s latest college football rankings turned into a full-throated vote of confidence for Notre Dame, and the biggest eyebrow-raiser came at quarterback. When the FOX broadcaster laid out his top 10 players for 2026, he put C.J. Carr at the top of the quarterback list over bigger-name options like Texas’ Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
Carr’s freshman season in 2025 gave Klatt plenty to work with. The Notre Dame quarterback threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns while helping push the Irish to the brink of a College Football Playoff berth. Notre Dame finished one spot short of the field, but Carr’s first year was enough to make Klatt bullish on what comes next.
“I love Dante Moore,” he said. “I really like Julian Sayin.
I really like Arch Manning. But guys, I cannot contain my excitement for C.J.
Carr at Notre Dame, so C.J. Carr is number three.”
Klatt said he’s especially intrigued by what Notre Dame’s offense could look like in 2026 after calling the previous version “run-based.” He pointed to the Irish’s ability to create explosive plays and suggested the passing game is about to become a much bigger part of the equation.
“What people failed to reealize is how explosive they were and they can be this year offensively throwing the football.”
“This is an offense that is going to be more quarterback-centric than it was... a year ago,” said Klatt. “Carr could have a monster year.”
Still, the pick stands out when stacked against the numbers. Carr ranked 51st nationally in passing yards last season, while Sayin threw for nearly 1,000 more yards.
Manning, even in a tough year, finished with 3,163 passing yards and 26 touchdowns. Moore brought the loudest production of the group, with 3,565 yards and 30 scores.
Notre Dame’s challenge is that the supporting cast around Carr has changed, too. The Irish lost running back Jeremiyah Love, along with backup Jadarian Price, and they bring back only one player who had a double-digit reception total last season.
Klatt’s Notre Dame lean didn’t stop with Carr. He also slotted Irish cornerback Leonard Moore as the second-best player in the country, behind only Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Notre Dame came close to a national title in 2024 before falling to Ohio State in the CFP final, but the program has not won college football’s biggest prize since 1988. If Klatt’s read is right and the Irish truly have the nation’s top quarterback and top defender, it won’t take long for that to show on the field.
In Other News...
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For Indiana, the timing only sharpens the conversation around how its schedules will be judged going forward. The Hoosiers currently do not have any Power Four non-conference opponents lined up, a detail that has already drawn criticism about the strength of their future slates. Losing Notre Dame adds another layer to that scrutiny, especially with so much attention now on how programs position themselves for selection committees and public perception alike. [Read more 🡒]
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For Notre Dame, the timing matters because the rivalry is officially set to restart in 2030, with the games scheduled early in the season. That only raises the stakes around every comment and countercomment between the two sides, especially when the conversation shifts from tradition to logistics. Rileys latest remarks do not change the calendar, but they do remind both fan bases that the tension around this series is already back in full view. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Still Waiting On The Indiana Matchup Fans Wanted
Indiana footballs future non-conference slate has been drawing attention, and not in the way Notre Dame fans had hoped. Under Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have mapped out a schedule through 2029 that stays away from any Power Four opponent outside the Big Ten, a sharp turn from the kind of game that can make an autumn calendar feel a little bigger.
Indiana had previously had games with Virginia and Louisville on the books before moving on to lighter opponents, and Cignetti has described the approach as SEC-style in its emphasis on conference play. For Notre Dame, though, the matchup people keep circling is still a ways off, with the first series between the programs now slated for 2030-31. [Read more 🡒]