SOUTH BEND, IN – Four minutes after kickoff, and less than two minutes into Saturday night’s latest iteration of the decades-long Miami-Notre Dame feud, Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman said everything he needed to say to his team.
He never said a word.
Instead, Notre Dame’s rock-star popular leader — think Elvis, Taylor Swift, hell, on this night, think the program’s most adulated head man since the late Lou Holtz, whom Notre Dame honored — basically nodded his head.
His Irish offense faced 4th-and-1 at midfield. Sophomore tailback Nolan James Jr., generously listed at 5-10 and 215 pounds, battered through the Miami front for four yards.
Seven snaps later, Notre Dame
kicked a field goal. It led 3-0 and never trailed the rest of the game, a 31-24 Irish win.
“If you're nervous on a fourth-down call versus Navy, you're going to be nervous versus Miami, right?,” Freeman told USA TODAY Sports. “Like the decisions I make when we go for it on fourth down have nothing to do with the opponent. It had to do with what we believe, what I believe in terms of when we go for it on fourth down.
“So, I didn't want the game to influence decisions. We have a plan. We've just got to go out there and execute, and our guys executed when it mattered the most.”
What Freeman clearly believes about this team must now be confronted by the rest of college football: The Irish, with one of the highest-paid rosters in the sport this season, are three more wins from a return to the College Football Playoff.
Their stellar sophomore quarterback, CJ Carr, delivered the signature performance of his 21 career starts. He threw for 319 yards and three scores on 29-for-40 passing. He ran just once, for three yards, but it set up what proved to be the decisive touchdown plunge from James.
Carr was never sacked. The Irish never turned over the football.
Notre Dame converted another fourth down in the fourth quarter. James validated that decision four snaps later.
“Just the confidence that coach Free has in us as an offensive unit,” said wideout Micah Gilbert, whose nine catches, 98 yards and two scores were all team bests. “It’s great to see that we have four downs at times to get that first. Honestly, just him trusting us with that.”
Miami, Notre Dame’s first No. 1-ranked victim since Clemson in 2020, turned over the ball twice.
Quarterback Darian Mensah, who entered as the Canes’ last remaining Heisman Trophy contender following Malachi Toney’s midweek ankle injury, was sacked twice, hurried four times and knocked down by Notre Dame’s finally unleashed pass rush.
Battered but never broken, Mensah still threw for 276 yards and three scores. His only real blemish was an interception by Irish safety Luke Talich, when the former Wyoming walk-on jumped a route directly in front of his jubilant sideline.
Notre Dame cashed in the miscue for a game-steadying touchdown.
The Hurricanes, however, mustered just three touchdowns in five red-zone trips.
Twice in the first half, they were handed goal-to-go first downs because of Notre Dame defensive penalties. Six consecutive snaps from at or inside the Irish 10 culminated with Notre Dame edge Boubacar Traore terrorizing Mensah in the gap.
Field goal.
See, that moment did the same thing as Freeman’s fourth-down gusto: It sent a message.
“Unbelievable,” Carr said of that sequence from his defense. “We could feel the rise of our momentum in the first half, and that was a big hump.
“To see those guys go three-for-three after the penalty (in stops from the 1-yard line) was unbelievable and definitely fueled us in the next couple drives.”
Meanwhile, Miami coach Mario Cristobal fueled the sport-wide, season-long angst over officiating with a mini-rant to open his postgame comments.
Facing 4th-and-6 from Notre Dame’s 18 with less than four minutes left, Mensah fired toward the left corner of the south end zone, opposite Touchdown Jesus and Notre Dame’s famed golden-domed Main Building.
Already a touchdown scorer, Elija Lofton elevated for Mensah’s toss and dragged a foot through the end zone and onto the white paint. But Talich never relented on the play and dislodged the ball.
Even upon review, the ACC crew upheld the on-field call.
An incensed Cristobal excoriated the crew.
“Really disappointed that they negated Elija Lofton’s touchdown with two hands on the ball and two feet in bounds,” Cristobal told reporters. “But like we told our team before we left Miami, do not leave it in the hands of officials because that’s what you’re going to get here. …
“Very disappointed with the way that was called with the game on the line and clear possession of the football in bounds.”
Of course, that’s the same officiating crew that twice whistled those aforementioned penalties, giving the Canes goal-to-go first downs they failed to turn into touchdowns.
The same crew flagged the Irish seven times for 57 yards, compared with five penalties for 31 yards against Miami.
Unlike too many contests this season, this game wasn’t won or lost on officiating mistakes or mysterious game-clock mismanagement.
The Irish won with belief and, ultimately, better execution.
“I know it's a big one; this is big,” said Freeman, now with 18 wins against ranked foes — including dispatches of teams ranked No. 1, 2, 5 (twice), 9 and 20 since 2022. “This is special. I'm not going to sit here and this is like the other ones. No, this is different. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of physical preparation, but mental preparation we put into this.
"I want them to enjoy it, but tomorrow it doesn't do anything for the future.”
That might be the only time Freeman said something that didn’t involve believing.
Because the Irish won this game, they still have a future.
And it looks an awful lot like a return engagement with the CFP.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marcus Freeman made his point without saying a word. Notre Dame believes
