CJ Carr barely won the offseason competition to become Notre Dame‘s starting quarterback, but the second-year player has fully capitalized on his opportunity, and coach Marcus Freeman is taking notice.

“It’s rare to be a second-year college football player playing in your fifth [career] game and performing at a level he’s performing at,” Freeman said Monday. “It’s rare. But I think CJ Carr is rare.”

Carr recorded his first career 300-yard passing performance in Saturday’s 56-13 rout of Arkansas, finishing with 354 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 22 of 30 passes. His 294 passing yards in the first half marked the third-highest total in team history, and his four touchdowns were the second-highest total in team history. The four touchdowns also were tied for second most by a true freshman or redshirt freshman in Notre Dame history.

Through four games, Carr has 1,091 passing yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second nationally in total QBR.

Carr, the grandson of longtime Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, competed with third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey in the spring and preseason camp. Minchey’s strong practice performances suggested he might get the first opportunity to start, but Freeman went with Carr, who saw action in only one game last fall and had no pass attempts.

“He has this unique trait that very few people have,” Freeman said. “He is … a competitive, selfless individual. It’s not about CJ Carr. He’s not so competitive that, ‘I want to be able to throw for this amount.’ It’s like, ‘Whatever we got to do to win, if I got to motivate, if I got to work, if I got to put my head down and run if I got to throw the ball,’ whatever it takes to win, like, he has that trait. He hates to lose, and then he’s mature in the way he prepares.”

Penn State coach James Franklin understands the continued focus on his big-game struggles, especially in the wake of Saturday’s overtime home loss to Oregon.

But Franklin can control how he views those games, and how he chooses to respond to the scrutiny. The Oregon loss dropped Franklin to 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents at Penn State, tied for the third-worst record by a head coach at a single school in the AP poll era.

“I try to answer the tough questions that you guys give,” Franklin told reporters Monday. “It’s not always easy to do. I wouldn’t say I enjoy this whatsoever, but I also understand you guys have got a job to do and these tough questions are going to come. I will also say that I’m not going to allow one loss to define our season. I’m not going to allow a few losses to define my career and what we have done here at Penn State, because although I don’t think a lot of people spend a ton of time on what we have done over our 12 years here.

“I get it. Nobody wants to hear this right now. There are a ton of positives.”

Franklin is 100-22 against non-top-10 foes at Penn State, and won 34 games in the previous three seasons. Last season, Penn State reached the Big Ten championship game for the first time since winning a title in 2016, and won its first two College Football Playoff games before falling to Notre Dame in the national semifinal.

Penn State dropped to No. 7 following the Oregon loss and visits winless UCLA on Saturday. The Nittany Lions could face consecutive top-10 opponents when they visit No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1, and then host No. 8 Indiana on Nov. 8.

Franklin cited inconsistency as a problem throughout the offense and noted how often Penn State was in third-and-long against Oregon. The Lions converted 6 of 15 third-down chances in the loss.

“You saw how we were structured last year in terms of how we would like to manage the offense and be able to run the ball, be able to stay ahead of the sticks, create manageable third-down situations, and also use that with the ability to go play-action pass and take shots down the field,” Franklin said. “Until you’re able to establish the running game, which we were able to do late in the game, which opened everything up from that point on, we have not been able to do it consistently.”

Franklin said Penn State’s sports information staff often sends him clips of how other coaches address tough losses, and that he doesn’t think those responses “would go over very well here.”

“Screaming, yelling, pointing fingers, we’re not going to do,” Franklin said. “Also, there is a part of making sure that I represent this program, this university the right way, and do it with class and integrity. That probably shows up in times like that more than other times. It’s not fun and easy when you care as deeply as we care.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has offensive help on the way with a freshman receiver who just might make a difference against No. 9 Texas on Saturday.

Dallas Wilson is practicing for the first time since injuring his left foot in training camp and is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against the Longhorns, coach Billy Napier said Monday.

Napier called Wilson’s availability “a big deal.”

“Three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well,” Napier said. “He feels really good. So far, so good.”

Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound newcomer from Tampa, was the star of Florida’s spring game in April. He caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and all indications in fall practice pointed to it not being a fluke.

But Wilson injured his foot late in camp, spent weeks in a protective boot and watched from afar as the Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC) struggled to move the ball and find the end zone. Florida scored 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, raising speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville.

Quarterback DJ Lagway has been the focus of the team’s offensive woes. The sophomore who went 6-1 as a starter last season missed most of the year dealing with injuries and looked rusty when the season began.

Although Lagway’s mechanics seemed improved in the team’s 26-7 setback at Miami on Sept. 20, his offensive line got manhandled and allowed way too much pressure for anyone to notice. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for 61 yards against the Hurricanes.

Napier used the off week to get Lagway more live-action reps in hopes of getting him “caught up.” But he also reiterated the need to “play better around him.”

“Each position group needs to step up,” Napier said. “More detail, eliminate errors, eliminate penalties, whatever the case may be. I just think more detail and better overall play around him. And, obviously, he needs to continue to get back closer to being himself.”

Adding Wilson to the mix should help.

The Gators haven’t shown much depth at receiver. Freshman Vernell Brown III has been Lagway’s go-to guy, catching 18 passes for 219 yards. But Eugene Wilson III, J. Michael Sturdivant and Aidan Mizell have been mostly underwhelming.

Dallas Wilson has been unable to help — until now. The Gators are confident he will change the narrative against the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC.

“Just having him out is going to be amazing for us,” Lagway said. “His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath and be able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hands, it’s going to be great to have him back.”