Saturday night in South Bend brings a playoff-style collision with major implications attached, as No. 1 Miami meets No. 11 Notre Dame under the eyes of Touchdown Jesus.
Week 10 has the feel of a reshuffle waiting to happen, and this matchup sits right in the middle of it. Miami comes in atop the rankings, while the Irish are trying to protect their place in the playoff picture.
The first thing to watch is how Miami handles the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Darian Mensah has piled up 2,425 passing yards with 25 touchdowns and only one interception, but the Hurricanes are missing wideout Malachi Toney, and that changes the shape of the offense.
The answer may be to lean into the run game, where Miami is averaging almost 6 yards per carry and has scored 22 rushing touchdowns. Notre Dame is No. 7 against the run, but Miami needs to stay physical, shorten the game and keep the Irish offense on the sideline.
That same trench battle flips the other way for Notre Dame, because the Irish have to get their own run game moving. Miami owns the nation’s top run defense, giving up just 2.4 yards per carry, while Notre Dame is still averaging more than 200 rushing yards a game. That’s a tough matchup for the Irish offensive line, and if the ground game stalls, CJ Carr will have to do more.
Carr is one of the biggest swing factors in the game. He has 18 touchdown passes and just one interception, and Miami’s pass defense has been leaky, allowing 252 passing yards per game.
If Notre Dame can keep him upright, there should be chances to hit explosive plays through the air. But there’s also a concern: Carr has not been sharp on deep throws lately, connecting on just 4 of 24 passes traveling at least 15 air yards over his last two games.
On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame’s injury situation could matter a lot. The Irish will be without linebacker Drayk Bowen, and defensive tackles Jason Onye and Francis Brewu are questionable.
Those losses could show up against a Miami offense that can move in more than one way. If the Hurricanes get Mark Fletcher Jr. rolling on the ground, they could make Notre Dame defend longer drives and spend more time on the field.
Miami’s own injury hit is a major storyline too, and maybe the biggest one in the game. Malachi Toney’s absence takes a huge bite out of the Hurricanes’ passing attack.
He accounts for more than 35 percent of their catches, almost 40 percent of their yards, and nearly half of their receiving touchdowns. Without that kind of production and speed, Miami loses some of the variety that makes the offense so dangerous, and Notre Dame can devote more attention to the run game.
The central question is whether Notre Dame can slow Miami’s passing attack. With Toney out, that task looks more manageable. Even so, the Hurricanes’ ground game gives them a path to keep this one tight.
In Other News...
Colin Cowherd Just Gave Notre Dame Fans New CFP Ammo
Colin Cowherds latest take on the College Football Playoff rankings gave Notre Dame fans fresh talking points, and not just because he pushed back on the Irish sitting at No. 11. He took aim at the committees decision to place Indiana at No. 4, while Notre Dame remains on the outside looking in, and argued that the gap between the two teams is not as straightforward as the rankings suggest.
Cowherd also revisited Notre Dames loss to BYU, saying the ending should be viewed through the lens of controversial officiating and the Big 12s admitted errors. He pointed to Notre Dames statistical edge over Indiana and questioned how the committee is weighing signature wins, which leaves the Irish with another public argument for why their rsum deserves a closer look. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dames 2028 Class Just Added Another Intriguing Defender
Notre Dames 2028 recruiting class picked up another promising piece when linebacker Julian Bruno committed to the Fighting Irish, choosing South Bend over Stanford and other programs. Bruno adds to a quick run of momentum for the class, becoming the third player to pledge to Notre Dame in two days as the staff continues to build early around a group that already includes names like Zaiden Jernigan and Asa Burch.
Bruno brings the kind of profile Notre Dame tends to value on and off the field, with a reputation as a strong high school defender and a high academic prospect. For a program that has long sold both development and fit, landing a player with that combination only adds to the intrigue around what the 2028 class could become as more decisions start to stack up. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDays Notre Dame Split Will Fuel Miami Debate
ESPNs College GameDay turned South Bend into the center of the college football weekend ahead of Notre Dames matchup with Miami, and the shows pick segment only added to the buzz around the game. Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and guest picker Jason Sudeikis all weighed in on a slate of Week 10 games, with the Irish drawing the bulk of the support in the marquee showdown.
Four of the five panelists backed Notre Dame to handle Miami, but Howard went the other way and sided with the Hurricanes. It is the kind of split that gives a prime-time matchup a little extra edge, especially with GameDay on site and the Irish getting the kind of national attention that comes with being the featured game of the day. [Read more 🡒]