SOUTH BEND, IN – Notre Dame buckled late Saturday night inside Notre Dame Stadium in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus. The Irish never folded, and now they can buckle up for an altogether different reason: A return trip to the College Football Playoff.
Building a three-touchdown lead and then hanging on, the Fighting Irish outlasted Miami 31-24
for the program's first win against a No. 1 team since Clemson was defeated here in 2020.The Fighting Irish, No. 6 in the US LBM Coaches Poll but just No. 11 last Tuesday in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, seemed on the verge of blowing out the Hurricanes.
Scoring just moments before the half when CJ Carr connected on play action to Micah Gilbert as he darted into the end zone for a 17-3 halftime
lead.
Then, Notre Dame got another Gilbert touchdown three minutes into the second half. The Irish defense snuffed out Miami’s opening possession, Jordan Faison delivered a short field with a 56-yard punt return and three snaps later, Gilbert gathered Carr’s third scoring toss for a 21-point lead.
The Hurricanes answered – and in a hurry.
In less than three minutes of game clock, as the Notre Dame offense lulled its way through the third quarter, Miami got back-to-back touchdown passes from Heisman Trophy candidate Darian Mensah.
The teams would trade touchdowns before Miami drove deep into Notre Dame territory late in the fourth quarter. Mensah's pass on fourth down appeared to be caught by tight end Elijah Lofton in the end zone but the ball was knocked out of his hands by defense back Luke Talich before he completely secured it.
The play by Talich put the Fighting Irish in position to ice the game with a pair of first downs. They got one, but Miami stiffened and got the ball back with one minute left. Notre Dame sacked Mensah and then tackled him on a run before a first down as the clocked ticked down.
The Hurricanes were 62 yards from the end zone with one snap left. The game ended with a series of laterals that failed to go forward, setting off a celebration at midfield with the fans joining the players in a win that helped erase the pain of missing the playoff last year when the final spot went to Miami due to their head-to-head win the season opener.
Notre Dame wholly dominated the game’s opening 16 minutes, when it possessed the ball for almost 12 minutes and used Carr’s connection to a toe-tapping Jordan Faison for a 10-0 lead.
The Hurricanes almost mounted a meaningful answer, when they drove 83 yards – but failed to gain the final yard.
This, after twice getting first-and-goal situations courtesy Notre Dame defensive penalties – the latter setting up the visitors with first-and-goal from the 1.
After Boubacar Traore detonated Mensah at the 2-yard line on third-and-goal, Mario Cristobal elected for a field goal.
Notre Dame would add a touchdown as Carr found Gilbert for a 18-yard score with 29 seconds left in a half it dominated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame still alive in CFP race after holding off rally from No. 1 Miami
