CJ Carr had the kind of night that can flip a No. 1 team’s whole mood in a hurry.
The Notre Dame quarterback threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 11 Notre Dame outlasted Miami 31-24 on Saturday night in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish improved to 8-1, while the Hurricanes fell to 8-1.
Carr finished 29 of 40, and he kept finding answers every time Miami tried to close the gap. Micah Gilbert was his favorite target, finishing with nine catches for 98 yards and two scores. Jordan Faison added a touchdown grab, and Nolan James Jr. punched in a rushing score.
Miami had plenty of firepower of its own, but Darian Mensah’s three-touchdown, one-interception night wasn’t enough to overcome the early hole. He went 24 of 42 for 276 yards. Cooper Barkate caught 10 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, and Elija Lofton added seven receptions for 113 yards and a score.
Notre Dame set the tone immediately with a 44-yard field goal from Spencer Porath on the opening possession. The lead grew to 10-0 early in the second quarter when Carr rolled the ball down the right sideline to Faison for a 27-yard touchdown, with Faison securing the catch and tapping his toe in bounds.
Miami finally got on the board with 6:25 left in the second quarter, but it came via a field goal after the Hurricanes reached fourth-and-goal at the Notre Dame 1-yard line. Jake Weinberg connected from 19 yards to make it 10-3.
Then Notre Dame delivered the drive that stretched the game open before halftime. Carr completed six passes on an eight-play, 81-yard march, and he finished it with an 18-yard touchdown to Gilbert across the middle. That made it 17-3 at the break.
The second half opened the same way the first one had ended, with Carr in control. He led another scoring drive and hit Gilbert again, this time from 20 yards out, to push Notre Dame ahead 24-3.
Miami answered with some life on its next possession. Mensah found Lofton for a 12-yard touchdown along the left sideline, and Lofton made a sharp effort to get his right foot down in bounds. That cut it to 24-10.
The Hurricanes kept pushing. Barkate caught a 12-yard touchdown from Mensah with 5:29 left in the third quarter, trimming the margin to 24-17.
Notre Dame responded with a 51-yard drive that ended with James scoring from the 1-yard line. That made it 31-17 with 12:55 remaining.
Miami still had one more push left. Barkate caught a quick slant from Mensah for a 1-yard touchdown, pulling the Hurricanes within 31-24 with 9:53 to go.
From there, the finish turned chaotic. Notre Dame fans stormed the field after Miami’s final desperate play from its own 38-yard line ended in a fumble.
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Miami Suddenly Faces A Bigger Test Than Just One Loss
A night that began with No. 1 on the scoreboard and in the rankings ended with Miami taking a 31-24 loss to Notre Dame and sliding to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25. The bigger concern, though, may have come off the field, where the Hurricanes were already trying to absorb the absence of star receiver Malachi Toney, who sat out with a high ankle sprain.
Miami still controls a path back into the College Football Playoff conversation, but it is now a narrower one. The Hurricanes likely need to handle the rest of their schedule and add an ACC title to stay in the hunt, and doing that without Toney for the regular season makes the margin for error even thinner. [Read more 🡒]
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Mario Cristobal had plenty to say after Miamis trip to Notre Dame ended in frustration, and it started with the play that had the Hurricanes thinking they had forced one more swing at the finish. Elija Lofton appeared to haul in what looked like a game-tying touchdown catch, but officials ruled it incomplete after review, leaving Miami to settle for a 31-24 loss in a game that was already tight enough to hinge on a single call.
Cristobal made his disappointment clear in the postgame press conference, taking issue with the officiating while still congratulating Notre Dame on the win. For Miami, the sting was not just the final score but the way the ending unfolded, with a review that upheld the call and left the Hurricanes replaying what might have been in a loss that will linger well beyond Saturday night. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Faces One Big AP Poll Question After Weekend Shakeup
The weekend reshaped the top of the college football conversation in a hurry, and Miami was right in the middle of it. The Hurricanes loss to No. 4 Notre Dame came as part of a wild slate that also saw No. 11 Ohio State fall to unranked Oregon, while Alabama handled LSU and Tennessee took care of Kentucky, giving the AP poll voters plenty to sort through when the new rankings arrive.
For Miami, the bigger issue is not just the sting of one defeat, but what it means in the broader playoff picture. A No. 1 team losing to another highly ranked opponent is the kind of result that forces a fresh look at the hierarchy, and the Hurricanes now wait to see how much ground they give up in the national conversation after a weekend that changed the shape of the race. [Read more 🡒]