Notre Dame week has arrived, and No. 1 Miami is walking into it with an 8-0 record, a 6-0 mark in the ACC, and a few obvious loose ends to tighten up before heading to South Bend.
The Hurricanes handled North Carolina without giving the game away. They didn’t turn it over, and they were the least penalized team on the field.
In a game where defense was a major problem, those kinds of clean details mattered. Miami also got the kind of late play it needed when Marquise Lightfoot forced a strip-sack in the fourth quarter, helping the Canes hang on.
For Mario Cristobal, that finish fit the bigger lesson he wants his team to carry into this week.
"It was a matter of you just have to keep your guys playing as hard as they can for as long as they can," Cristobal said on the Joe Rose Show Monday Morning. "Eventually, you are going to find a situation where a play is going to come to you just by doing your job.
You are going to get the momentum, and when you have it, you have to take it and finish it. We were able to finish it in the fourth quarter."
That kind of message has been necessary because Miami’s issues have been showing up in the same places: missed tackles, especially on screen passes, and plays that don’t get finished. Those breakdowns have been stacking up week after week.
Cristobal said the fix starts with the basics.
" I see detail and execution and communication, and we didn't tackle well," Cristobal said on the Joe Rose Show. "When there was a lot of space, and they checked the ball down into the boundary or a screen play, there were some missed tackles.
In the world of coaching, you have to find answers. We have the ability to find answers, and we just have to get there."
That search for answers leads straight to tackling, especially with Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr capable of turning a good defensive rep into something much bigger. Cristobal said the Hurricanes can win individual battles, but they still have to finish the job when the quarterback starts moving.
"At the end of the day, you can win your one-on-one, but it's the guy who steps up, slides left, right, right, and takes off with the ball, or by the time he gets the ball down the field, you know, and it's the team of college football, right, quarterback, second, extend plays, Cristobal said. " It rains toreme, man. So if you do win, right, when you get your one on ones and we have one a good number of them, is you've got to finish on the quarterback."
Miami and Notre Dame will meet in South Bend on NBC at 6:30 p.m. ET.
In Other News...
Notre Dames Rome Opener Put One Irish Freshman Under The Spotlight
Notre Dames season opened in memorable fashion in Rome, where the Irish edged Villanova 74-72 and got an early look at how their new pieces might fit together. Shrewsberry led the way with 15 points, Koehler added 16 points and made key defensive plays, and the game had the feel of a showcase from the start, with the Irish already drawing attention for how they handled a high-level opponent on a stage far from South Bend.
The biggest spotlight, though, landed on freshman Luigi Suigo, whose college debut came with plenty of eyes on him because of his NBA draft potential. He finished with seven points, a modest start by the box score but still a meaningful first step for a player viewed as a possible first-round pick. Villanovas Perkins scored 18 points in the loss, but for Notre Dame, the opener was as much about seeing how Suigo settles in as it was about starting the year with a win. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Defense Is Running Thin At The Worst Possible Time
Notre Dames defense took another hit in the Navy game, and the timing could hardly be worse with Miami looming. Linebacker Drayk Bowen and defensive tackles Jason Onye and Francis Brewu were among the players injured, adding to a unit that has already been stretched by earlier setbacks this season.
The Irish have not offered specific recovery timelines, leaving their status for the Miami matchup uncertain and the depth chart in a familiar state of flux. For a defense already trying to patch together answers, every new injury narrows the margin for error and makes the next week feel even more important. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Defense Faces A Massive Question Before Miami Showdown
Notre Dame heads into its matchup with Miami carrying more than the usual pregame uncertainty on defense. The Irish are already dealing with a cluster of lower-body injuries from the Navy game, and the availability report has only sharpened the concern around the middle of the defense and the interior line.
Drayk Bowen is officially out, while Francis Brewu and Jason Onye are both listed as questionable with knee injuries. Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and safety Brauntae Johnson are also in doubt, leaving Notre Dame with several key pieces hanging in the balance as it tries to sort out its rotation before one of the biggest games on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]