5 Stats That Defined Notre Dame’s Blowout Win Over Arkansas

Because of the concerns with Notre Dame's defense through the first three games, it has felt like the Fighting Irish offense hasn't gotten its due. CJ Carr has been everything and more than he was hyped to be when he was named Notre Dame's starting quarterback in August. Carr had a clean pocket for most of the afternoon and picked apart the Arkansas defense. Big plays were the story of the game for Notre Dame, something we'll touch on more later, but on a day he threw for over 350 yards and four touchdowns, his 11.8 yards per attempt was the most impressive.

Notre Dame Offense's Chunk Plays

How is this for an explosive offense? Notre Dame had plays of 21, 25, 22, 20, 25, 23, 24, 34, 24, 35, 40 (fake punt while up by 29), and 37 yards on Saturday. That's 12 plays of the 72 it ran Saturday that went for 20 yards or more, or exactly 1/6. That's an absurd hit rate and is exactly what the hope was for it with CJ Carr providing more chances down the field than Notre Dame has had in recent years.

Notre Dame's Improved Pressure- 3 Sacks

Notre Dame had what was easily its best game defensively so far in 2025, specifically in pressuring the opposing quarterback. Notre Dame finished the game with three sacks, having come in with just four all year, but also forced three holding calls. Part of that is due to Arkansas being down so badly and being in predictable situations, but for as hard as we've all been on Notre Dame's pressure so far this season, credit where its due Saturday.

Arkansas' Point Total - 13 Points

Notre Dame held Arkansas to just 13 points on Saturday which doesn't seem like much compared to what the Fighting Irish defense held opponents to all last season, but is significant. While the Razorbacks are just 2-3 on the season, they had averaged 43.5 points per game entering Saturday's contest, meaning that Notre Dame held them 30.5 points below their scoring average for the year.

Notre Dame's 56 Points

Notre Dame's 56 points scored were the second-most the Irish have ever hung on an SEC opponent. The most? You have to go all the way back to Harry S Truman's presidency and specifically the year 1947 for the only time Notre Dame has scored more against an SEC opponent. The Irish put a 59-6 whooping on Tulane, then an SEC member, to move to 8-0 and would ultimately win a national championship.