These are the five stars for Notre Dame against the Arkansas Razorbacks

No. 21 Notre Dame went into Arkansas and the Fighting Irish rolled against the Razorbacks.

Some folks, your author included, expected that Arkansas would give the Irish a fight, even if Notre Dame ultimately emerged victorious. Instead, what seemed like it might be a close game early turned into a blowout as Notre Dame's offense was nigh unstoppable and its much-maligned defense seemed improved, save for one drive.

Here are the five stars for Notre Dame today.

5 ⭐️ - Jeremiyah Love

Notre Dame's Heisman hopeful running back had another heck of a day, with four touchdowns in the first half -- two rushing and two passing. He finished with 57 rushing yards on 14 carries with a long of 15, and 5 catches for 70 yards and a long of 34.

These are the type of days that put a running back high on NFL draft boards.

4 ⭐️ - Jadarian Price

Not to be outdone, Notre Dame's number two running back had 13 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, and he also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Love/Price 1-2 punch continues to drive the Fighting Irish.

3 ⭐️ - CJ Carr

Quarterback CJ Carr completed 22-of-34 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns, and he has to settle for third star because of his running backs. Even though Carr can run it a bit himself, including on one key third-down conversion early when the game was still in doubt.

If Carr continues to perform at this level and continues to eliminate rookie mistakes -- today there was an inexcusable intentional grounding, though the game was already well in hand -- and the two running backs continue to grind up defenses, this team really could bounce back from a rough start.

2 ⭐️ - Jordan Faison

The wide receiver had 7 catches for 89 yards and threw for 40 on a fake punt. He didn't find the end zone but his day was still impressive nonetheless.

1 ⭐️ - Notre Dame defense

The much-maligned unit took a step forward today, though there are still some concerns, and Arkansas' offense posed less of a threat than Notre Dame's previous opponents -- including Purdue.

Still, three sacks, a key fumble recovery, three passes defended, and a garbage-time interception aren't bad. Especially with star cornerback Leonard Moore out with an injury. Perhaps a young secondary is gaining confidence and starting to understand defensive coordinator Chris Ash's system.

On the other hand, the Razorbacks had some self-inflicted wounds in terms of penalties and dropped passes, and some of Notre Dame's passes defensed came on last-second reaches from members of the secondary. Arkansas also had a drive early, when the game was still in doubt, in which it ran the ball at will.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but perhaps this defense is improving. Let's hope so.

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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Here are five stars for Notre Dame at the Arkansas Razorbacks