For the second year in a row, Notre Dame’s playoff hopes hinged on a matchup with Miami, and this time it left no doubt.
The Irish took down the No. 1 Hurricanes 31-24, holding on to a 21-point second half lead after Miami led a furious comeback attempt that fell just short in the final minutes.
CJ Carr delivered in the biggest game of his career yet, going 29-40 for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Carr’s receiving core delivered too as Jordan Faison (77 yards, touchdown) and Micah Gilbert (98 yards, two touchdowns) both came through. Gilbert set a career high in receptions with nine.
The Irish defense put together a great first half to stifle the high-flying Hurricanes, holding them to just three points and 145 total yards of offense. Darian Mensah (264 yards, three touchdowns) and Miami did find their game in the second half, scoring three touchdowns in four drives, but their slow start proved too much to overcome.
Notre Dame had its most complimentary 30 minutes of football when it absolutely needed it to get off on the right foot against Miami.
The Irish offense was efficient and precise, led by CJ Carr who delivered on the biggest stage of his career so far. To start the game, the offense went down the field but fell short of the sticks just outside of the redzone. Spencer Porath knocked in a 44-yard field goal to open a 3-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Carr finally seemed to find his rhythm when he hit Faison on a short crossing route and the receiver found a burst for 26 yards. Carr went right back to his No. 1 target later that drive, and Faison rewarded him with a 27-yard toe tap touchdown to go up 10-0 on the Hurricanes.
Meanwhile the Hurricanes offense — who led the nation in scoring coming into South Bend — struggled mightily throughout the first half. Miami punted on its first two possessions, but did move the ball to open the second quarter, going on a lengthy 14-play drive that was extended by a pair of Irish holding penalties on third down.
But down on the doorstep of the goal line, the Hurricanes came up short. Two Mensah designed keepers came up short, with the second being a quarterback sweep out of shotgun that was destined to fail. Miami opted to kick for three instead of rolling the dice on fourth and down.
That was the only scoring the Hurricanes did in the first half as Notre Dame’s defense held their high-powered offense to 145 yards and three points, both their lowest totals in the first half to date.
With Miami’s offense stalling, Carr was a maestro leading the offense on a two-minute drive to close an impressive start for Notre Dame. The quarterback made a handful of skilled throws, one coming on a third down roll out , finding Aneyeas Williams for 10 and first.
Carr later hit Gilbert for 18 and Jaden Greathouse for 19 to move the Irish down the field. With the clock running down, Carr perfectly executed an RPO to hit Gilbert on a slant over the top for an 18-yard touchdown to cap off an eight play, 81-yard drive to go up 17-3.
In the first half, Carr went 18-26 for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
The Irish’s momentum rolled right into the second half as Miami’s offense continued to climb uphill against the Irish defense. Kynstonn Viliamu-Asa beared down on Mensah on third down for a sack and a quick Hurricane punt.
Faison jumpstarted the Notre Dame offense with an electric 51-yard punt return to set them up at the Miami 30. The Irish quickly capitalized on the short field as Carr went back to Gilbert over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown.
Notre Dame found itself up 24-3 and on the brink of rolling the top team in the nation.
Miami didn’t lay down though.
Mensah and the Hurricanes offense got hot in the third, going on two-straight touchdown drives with the Heisman candidate making impressive two throws to Elija Lofton and Cooper Barkate to shrink the Irish lead down to seven in a hurry.
Notre Dame’s offense went silent in the third quarter after Gilbert’s second touchdown, going three and out on consecutive possessions.
The Irish was given a burst of life when they were reeling when Luke Talich undercut an underthrow by Mensah, securing a much-needed interception at midfield.
Notre Dame capitalized on the sudden change, taking an aggressive approach as Carr hit James Jr. out of the backfield on fourth and short all alone for a 36-yard gain. The running back finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Irish back up 31-17.
Back down two possessions, Miami still kept coming with Barkate proving to be a problem for the Irish secondary. Barkate hauled in his second touchdown of the night on a slant at the goal line to get right back within seven.
Notre Dame’s offense did move the sticks a couple of times and proceeded to get into scoring range, but Miami’s defense held up to force a field goal. Porath lined up for the 53-yard kick to make it a two possession game, but the kick never had a chance.
Now on a shorter field, Mensah scrambled to find Lofton who made a defender miss and tumbled his way down the sideline for a 41-yard gain. With under four minutes to go and facing a fourth down, Mensah scrambled to find Lofton once again, who appeared to make a toe-tapping touchdown grab, but Talich once again delivered, knocking the ball loose to give the Irish back the ball.
Notre Dame had a chance to run out the clock with two first downs, but could only manage one, giving the ball back to Miami with just under a minute remaining.
A good punt pinned Miami inside its own 20, and it never had a chance to get downfield as the Notre Dame defense brought down Mensah twice behind the sticks to roll the clock down to zero.
Now with its toughest test behind them and their quality win the committee was looking for, the Irish will turn their attention to Boston College on Nov. 14 at 3:30 p.m.
