Notre Dame Football: What we liked & didn't like from the Irish vs. Miami

No. 11 Notre Dame hosted No. 1 Miami in a game where the Irish's postseason hopes hung in the balance.

The Irish went up 24-3. Miami never went away.

Here's what we liked and didn't like from Notre Dame's critical game vs. No. 1 Miami at Notre Dame stadium.

What we liked

Notre Dame met the moment:

The Irish needed to win this game to keep its national title dreams alive. They needed to show the country they have what it takes to play with top teams.

They sure did.

In all, it was as complimentary of a football game Notre Dame could have asked for.

We’ll discuss CJ Carr’s day in a bit, but the offense took advantage of what was there and capitalized when it needed to. The defense was aggressive with nary a soft zone in sight; the linebackers and defensive line were pressuring Miami quarterback Darian Mensah in critical moments.

It wasn’t over at 24-3, and Miami roared back. But, Luke Talich, the former walk-on, stepped in front for an all-important interception that halted Miami’s momentum. 

The defense halted the Miami momentum. It was complimentary football. It wasn’t great, but it was working.

This led to an all-important fourth quarter to decide the future of the Notre Dame 2026 season.

After that interception, Notre Dame seized control and go back into the end zone with a critical drive where they played like their season depended on it.

It wasn't like BYU, where the Irish were sluggish and got outcoached. It wasn't like the Cougars' loss, where Notre Dame couldn't seize control of the game.

The difference was Miami is the No. 1 team in the nation. They're the best. To beat the best, Notre Dame needed to play like the best. 

They took care of business.

QB CJ Carr:

The Irish starting QB needed to have the best game of his career. He did exactly that.

He went over 300 yards passing early in the fourth quarter, found open receivers and delivered the Irish to a 24-3 lead at the start of the third quarter.

The Irish did let their foot off the gas, but it was because the Irish took the ball out of Carr's hands to establish the run. That was when the Irish went three-and-out twice in a row.

What we didn’t like

Their foot came off the gas:

With a 24-3 lead in the third quarter, Miami responded with a touchdown pass. That’s what to expect from the Hurricanes. The No. 1 team in the country was going to have a response, even without Malachi Toney.

But, a bad three-and-out followed by a 25 yard put to put Miami at midfield with a chance to make it a one-score game was begging the Hurricanes to make this game interesting.

When it looked like Notre Dame had something figured out on offense, they went three-and-out twice. The Irish didn’t try any run-pass options or do anything to attack a Miami secondary that’s struggled to defend the pass vertically.

It was a maddening development at Notre Dame Stadium for a team that was beating Miami on both sides of the ball in the first half.

Defensive fouls:

The Irish had misfortunes on third down. They had three moments in the game where third-down stops were negated by holding on passing plays.

The Irish were good enough in other areas where that didn’t critically cripple the Notre Dame defense. But, one of them led to a touchdown which started the Miami rally.

It doesn't help when the Irish were down Moore and Jayden Sanders at different points. Miami kept picking on Mark Zackery, and they got him for multiple touchdowns.

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