Irish Outlast Hurricanes 31-24 To Take Down #1

The fourth-ranked University of Notre Dame football team (8-1) built a lead then outlasted the Miami Hurricanes (8-1), 31-24, in a jam-packed Notre Dame Stadium for the program’s 10th victory over the nation’s top-ranked team.  

The Irish jumped out to a 24-10 victory in the third quarter, Miami answered with three scores of their own but a clutch early-fourth quarter drive keyed by Nolan James Jr. proved to be the deciding possession. 

CJ Carr finished the game 29-of-40 for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Micah Gilbert caught nine of those passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns. The Irish defense made key plays when they needed it, especially safety Luke Talich with a fourth-quarter interception and a pass break up to deny a possible Hurricane touchdown. 

Notre Dame received the opening kickoff and was able to get points on its first drive. Faison opened the game with a five-yard catch, then Nolan James Jr. converted on a 12-yard run. Gilbert got nine more on a reception to midfield. James Jr. earned another first down to the Miami 31-yard line. Jack Larsen caught a five-yard pass on third down short of the sticks and Spencer Porath knocked in a 44-yard field goal. 

The defense earned its first stop after Miami picked up one first down. Traore performed a huge tackle for loss on third down, setting down the Hurricane back for a loss of five.

The punt buried Notre Dame in its own end, especially when a holding penalty was tacked onto the return. Micach Gilbert moved the Irish out of the hole with a third down catch out to the 23-yard line. Jonaz Walton was in the game and caught a check down pass from Carr, made two defenders miss and picked up 11 yards. He added a nine-yard run on the next play and eventually moved the chains on a short third-down run. The drive would stall there, but Jasper Scaife came on to completely flip field position by placing a perfect nine-iron-type punt with perfect backspin to place the ball at the three-yard line. 

The Irish defense stepped up again to force another punt with the key stop coming from Christian Gray on a quick screen on third and 10. 

The Irish received the punt at their own 35-yard line. Carr hit Faison on a crossing pattern behind the line of scrimmage and key downfield blocks by the Irish allowed for a 26-yard gain. One play later a quick middle screen to Walton moved the ball 12 yards to the Miami 27-yard line. 

Carr looked back to Faison on the next play and the Irish wideout stepped up with a toe-tapping spectacular catch on the right side of the end zone for a 27-yard score.  

Miami’s first points came on the next drive but in reality, the possession was a net-win for the Notre Dame defense after being whistled for two defensive holding calls that placed the ball at their own one-yard line. Two short runs were completely stuffed by the defense and after a timeout with the ball as close to the end zone as it could be without a score, Jaiden Ausberry and Boubacar Traore combined to squash Miami quarterback Darien Mensah for a three-yard loss. Miami coveted the chip-shot field goal to make the score 10-3 with 6:25 left in the half. 

The Irish offense would post one first down on their next drive and punt to the Miami nine-yard line. It looked like the Hurricanes were going to escape their end with a 28-yard run on the first play. 

Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa decided that was enough for the visiting team on the drive. He stuffed Miami on back-to-back plays then Tione Gray batted away a third-down pass at the line of scrimmage to force yet another Miami punt with 2:08 left in the first half. 

Aneyas Williams entered in the backfield and would make two huge plays on the Irish scoring drive. He picked up a Miami blitzing player to give Carr time, popped up after his block and turned to snag a 10-yard catch to move the chains on third down. Carr then found Faison for 10 and Gilbert for 18 yards to the Miami 37-yard line with 0:58 seconds left.

Williams then performed his second perfect blitz pick up on the next play that allowed Carr to step up and hit Jaden Greathouse for 18 yards to the Miami 19 with 0:29 left. The Irish scored on the next play when Carr threw a rope to Gilbert on an 18-yard slant for a touchdown. 

Miami picked up one first down on the game’s final minute before punting away with nine seconds left and Notre Dame entered half with a 17-3 lead. 

Notre Dame would start the second half with a defensive stop. On the first play of the second half, Miami was whistled for holding. Mensah scrambled for 13 on the next down. It was third and seven at the Miami 38-yard line when Viliamu-Asa, after an initial pressure from an unblocked Jaylen Sneed, brought down Mensah for a sack. 

Miami’s punter uncorked a huge punt, a 59-yard offering that Faison bobbled, regained quick control, cut left, made a defender miss and produced a 56-yard punt return to the Miami 30-yard line.

Notre Dame needed just two more plays to extend their lead. Carr found Mylan Graham for 13 yards then a wide open Gilbert on a deep slant for a 20-yard score. 

 

Miami would post their first touchdown of the game on the next drive. Helped by a first down after Luke Talich forced a fumble but Miami picked it up and advanced it past the first down marker. A defensive holding call gave the Hurricanes another first down into Notre Dame territory. Mesah eventually found Elijah Lofton for a 12-yard touchdown and the Irish led 24-10 with 8:26 left in the third quarter. 

Notre Dame’s offense went three-and-out on the next drive and a short punt from Scaife gave Miami the ball at their own 48 with a little momentum and 7:27 left in the quarter. 

The momentum continued with a six-play scoring drive. Notre Dame did force Miami to a fourth-down conversion, but the Hurricanes picked up the Irish blitz to find a wide open receiver across the field. The Irish tracked him down at the 12-yard line but one play later Mensah found Cooper Barkate for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone. 

The visiting team momentum would continue as Notre Dame was forced into their second consecutive three-and-out. Faison caught a pass for seven on first down but James Jr. was stuffed twice on two consecutive runs. Miami took over at its own 29. 

Notre Dame needed a defensive play and Luke Talich stepped up. He undercut a deep out route and made a clean interception to give Notre Dame the ball at the Irish 49-yard line. 

The Irish made it hard on themselves with a holding call on the offensive possession. They overcame it with a Gilbert catch and a Graham slant to make it fourth and two at the Miami 43-yard line. 

The game switched to the fourth quarter and Notre Dame had extra time to contemplate their play call. Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock drew up a great one, splitting James Jr. out to the left and Carr found him wide open for the conversion and a huge run down the left sideline for 36 yards to the Miami seven-yard line. 

Carr called his own number, was tackled by his facemask short of the goal line and the penalty moved the ball to the one. Fittingly, James Jr. capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. 

Miami answered as the game started to turn into ‘instant classic’ territory. Helped by a defensive pass interference call Miami’s Mensah found Barkate again for a one-yard scoring strike and the score was Notre Dame 31, Miami 24, with 9:53 left in the game. 

Notre Dame hoped to put the game away on their drive, but could not even as they moved into Miami territory. The big play was a Walton 20-yard run on third down but from there he was stuffed twice and Carr missed Faison on third down. Porath tried a 53-yard field goal but the kick was short and wide left. 

The drama would continue as Miami caught a pass that was close to being intercepted, broke a tackle and then ran for 41 yards to the Notre Dame 22-yard line. The defense needed another key stop. A Viliamu-Asa pressure on second down brought up third and long. More Irish defensive pressure ended with another incompletion. It was now fourth down and Mensah looked to the end zone.

Lofton went up for the ball, made a clean catch with two feet down but Talich was there. He got his hands into the defender and broke up the pass to give Notre Dame the ball back. 

Notre Dame needed to melt some time off the clock. Three straight runs by James Jr. earned a first down to the two-minute timeout. Three more James Jr. runs extinguished Miami’s remaining timeouts. With 1:04 left Scaife punted 50 yards to the 13-yard line. 

The defense was ready to close the door. A sack by Traore and Bryce Young put Miami far behind the sticks and melted more time off the clock. There was one second left when Miami tried a hook and ladder that was eventually fumbled and kicked around the turf and the game ended. 

The Irish, who defeated Miami FL on October 15, 1988, 31-30, had taken down the top-ranked Hurricanes again with 31 points.