While waiting for the Notre Dame game to start at BYU, Irish fans saw the little bother of a star player come in for rival Michigan
In this story:
With Notre Dame not kicking off its top 10 showdown at BYU until after 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Fighting Irish fans were given a bit more time to watch college football all around the country.
Upsets were the story of the day as No. 1 Georgia lost to Auburn, No. 7 Texas fell to unranked Florida, and No. 14 Tennessee took down No. 6 Alabama, but the eyes of Notre Dame fans may have been on an old rival more than any of those SEC contests.
Literally, for as long as Notre Dame has been playing football, Michigan has been a rival. Whether Michigan is on the schedule or not, Fighting Irish fans have rooted against the Wolverines, and Wolverines fans have done the same with the Irish.
But because of a family connection, that feeling certainly changed a bit on Saturday.
Tommy Carr Takes Over at Quarterback for Michigan
It's no secret that Michigan's offense has struggled behind sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood this season, as the Wolverines needed a free extra play from Big Ten officials to even get by Western Michigan back in Week 1.
It hasn't gotten a whole lot better halfway through the season as Michigan averaged the 102nd most points per game in the nation entering Saturday's home game against Penn State.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr has a long family history at Michigan, and his younger brother Tommy is a true freshman on the Wolverines roster.
After Underwood struggled mightily in the first half Saturday, Carr was inserted into the quarterback position and helped guide the Wolverines to 21-11 victory, with all Michigan touchdowns coming after Carr was inserted.
— Notre Dame Recruiting (@NDrecruiting01) October 17, 2026True freshman QB Tommy Carr, younger brother of CJ Carr, replaced Bryce Underwood, and immediately gave the Michigan offense life.
The Carr brothers are quarterbacking two of the biggest programs in college football. pic.twitter.com/Xh1kgNnnCT
Carr finished the game with just 47 passing yards, but didn't turn the ball over, which is especially notable after Underwood fired off a pair of interceptions.
Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts
I type this as I sit waiting for Notre Dame's kickoff against BYU to come around.
In a week that has seen the future of college football appear headed to a 24-team College Football Playoff, things have felt a bit strange.
Now, throw in the brother of CJ Carr helping save Michigan's day against Penn State, and sort of rooting for Michigan makes things feel that much stranger.
The Carr family, the first family of college football. pic.twitter.com/JS22Zcs3sx
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) October 17, 2026
Couple that with Georgia falling to Auburn on Saturday, and everything is on the table for Notre Dame on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.
Not only would Notre Dame almost certainly move to No. 1 with a win, but Miami would almost be guaranteed to be No. 2 when the two meet in South Bend on November 7.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published
Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.