No. 1 Miami heads to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m.
ET showdown with the No. 11 Fighting Irish, and the Hurricanes will need one of their biggest defensive bets to pay off.
That player is senior edge rusher Damon Wilson II. If Miami is going to bother quarterback CJ Carr and crack a Notre Dame offensive line that has been nearly airtight, Wilson has to look more like the high-end transfer the Hurricanes thought they were getting.
Wilson came to Coral Gables after a huge 2025 season at Missouri, when he piled up nine sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, an interception and second-team All-SEC honors after two quieter years at Georgia. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Venice, Florida, native was brought in to help fill the void left by first-round pass rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.
The production has been uneven. Wilson opened with zero pressures against Stanford and Florida A&M, then picked up his first sack against Wake Forest.
That game looked like a turning point, since he finished with seven total pressures and delivered one of the biggest plays of the night. But he followed that with only two pressures against Central Michigan before breaking out the next week.
His best showing came at Clemson, where he posted 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, three total tackles and 11 total pressures in Miami’s 41-13 win. He had more pressures against the Tigers than he had in the first four games combined.
Since then, though, the numbers have cooled off. In Miami’s three games after Clemson, Wilson has no sacks, no tackles for loss and five pressures, all of them coming against Florida State.
That makes Saturday night a major measuring stick. Notre Dame has allowed only two sacks all season, the fewest in the country, and that protection has helped Carr put up strong efficiency numbers while the Irish have been among the nation’s best at avoiding negative plays.
Miami’s defense has been dominant against the run, leading the nation in rushing yards allowed, but the pass defense has been far more exposed lately. The Hurricanes have given up more than 300 passing yards per game over their last three contests.
Marquise Lightfoot has been Miami’s most reliable pass rusher, with seven sacks and the team lead in total pressures. Even so, the Hurricanes have 24 sacks through eight games, and Wilson’s ability to win one-on-one matchups or create pressure is a big part of what could make the difference against a line that has barely given anything away.
Wilson has also been viewed as an NFL prospect to watch this season as he works with Jason Taylor, but a few quiet outings have not helped that case. A strong performance in one of the biggest games of the year could change that quickly.
For Miami, the formula is simple: a defense built on disruption needs its most athletic edge defender to close the gap between flashes and consistency. For Wilson, Saturday is a golden chance to remind everyone why he was one of the portal’s top edge talents.
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Notre Dame was one of the clearest examples of that gap, sitting in a position that sent a message about how the committee is weighing resumes rather than reputation. Hunter Yurachek said the process is tough in a season with so much competition, and the broader board reflected that tension, with 10 SEC teams included and Indiana coming out as the highest-ranked Big Ten team despite some surprising factors. [Read more 🡒]
Ahmmon Richards Just Exposed Where Miami Can Hurt Notre Dame
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Richards also pointed to specific plays and individual matchups worth watching, which is exactly the kind of early scouting report Miami fans will want to hear before a big test. For a Hurricanes team looking for any edge it can find, the value is in those little tells and tendencies, and Richards made it clear there are places where Notre Dame can be attacked if Miami reads the game correctly. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Needs Damon Wilson II To Reignite Its Pass Rush Vs Notre Dame
Damon Wilson II arrived from Missouri with the kind of early-season burst that made him look like a difference-maker on Miamis defensive front, but the last few games have been a quieter stretch. Even so, the Hurricanes have still found ways to get after the quarterback, with Marquise Lightfoot helping keep the sack production moving while the front seven has otherwise leaned on its strength against the run.
Against Notre Dame, Miami could use Wilson to rediscover the pressure that made him such an intriguing addition in the first place. The Hurricanes have been vulnerable through the air, even as theyve stood out nationally against the run, so getting more disruption off the edge would go a long way toward balancing out a defense that has been sturdy in one area and stretched in another. [Read more 🡒]