SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The “Let’s go Irish!” booming in the Notre Dame Stadium tunnel finally broke Marcus Freeman’s concentration. 

The Notre Dame coach smiled. He pointed to quarterback CJ Carr and linebackers Boubacar Traore and Luke Talich, who entered the press room.

“Y’all earned it,” Freeman told his players. “Enjoy it!”

Freeman knew the magnitude of No. 11 Notre Dame’s 31-24 victory against No. 1 Miami on Saturday night. It’s not just the history between these ’80s rivals, which resurfaced last year in the controversial head-to-head College Football Playoff debate. This was a defining moment in the present tense for the Irish – who improved to 8-1 and solidified their standing in the playoff pecking order. 

“I know it’s a big one,” Freeman said. “This is big. This is special. I’m not going to sit here and say 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.” 

Notre Dame fans stormed the field after an intense second-half against the Hurricanes. Carr, who  finished 29 of 40 for 319 yards and three TDs, vaulted into the Heisman Trophy conversation. He tried to honor Freeman’s request. 

“I was trying to enjoy it some more but they kept trying to usher me over to try and talk to people,” Carr said. “I was like, ‘Dude, let me go celebrate this sucker. We earned this thing.'” 

It turned out to be a fitting tribute for the last Notre Dame team to win a national championship. 

Irish honor Lou Holtz 

“It just so happens, it’s Miami week,” Skip Holtz said while smiling in front of the media in a pre-game press conference. 

Skip addressed the media before Saturday’s game which celebrated the life of legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, who passed away on March 4. A total of 22 members of the Holtz family attended the game. The family visited the grave sites of Lou and his wife Beth, who passed away in 2020. Skip recalled the touching setting in South Bend. 

“To have an unbelievable funeral here in the Basilica, to march down Notre Dame Avenue in March with it snowing sideways in South Bend,” Holtz said. “To have the band playing, to have the bagpipes playing, this is emotion.” 

Lou Holtz led Notre Dame to a 31-30 upset against No. 1 Miami on Oct. 15, 1988 in the “Catholics vs. Convicts” game that propelled the Irish to the program’s last national championship.

While it is admittedly impossible to replicate the emotion from that college football treasure, this one had similarities before, during and afterward. 

“You study history to value the opportunity you have in the present,” Freeman said. “I kind of showed them the video from the ’88 game in terms of the storyline. We talked about the important statistics that produced the outcome, but today is about today and this team and what they did today.” 

Miami struggles in first half without Malachi Toney 

Miami star receiver Malachi Toney suffered an ankle injury Wednesday, and the question was how that would impact quarterback Darian Mensah and an offense that averaged an FBS-best 47.6 points per game. 

The Hurricanes’ first drive stalled when Notre Dame edge rusher Boubacar Traore tackled Mark Fletcher Jr. for a four-yard loss. Miami had just 28 total yards in the first quarter.

That theme carried over throughout the first half. Miami trailed 10-0 after a 27-yard TD pass from Carr to Jordan Faison before sustaining its first drive, with the help of a pair of defensive holding calls. That pushed the ball to the 1-yard line, but the Irish bowed up with a goal-line stand. On third-and-goal, Mensah tried a QB-power run, but was stacked up by Traore and linebacker Jaiden Ausberry.

Holtz talked about the pre-game tailgate with linebackers Frank Stams and Michael Stonebreaker. The names change, but the Irish were fueled by that defensive effort in the first half that limited Mensah to 6 of 12 passing for 45 yards. 

Notre Dame makes game-changing plays 

Notre Dame faced a third-and-4 with 1:19 remaining in the half and a 10-3 lead. That’s when Carr spun away from the pass rush of Damon Wilson II and found Aneyas Williams for a first down. The Irish went from running out of the half to two-minute drill, and Carr hit 6 of 7 passes for 79 yards. An 18-yard TD pass to Micah Gilbert capped that artistry and gave Notre Dame a 17-3 lead at halftime. 

Carr finished 18 of 25 for 206 yards and two TDs at the half. 

The Irish threatened to put away the Hurricanes to start the second half. A Kyngstonn Vilamu-Asa sack stalled Miami’s first drive. Faison dropped the ensuing punt that sailed over his head before picking it up and weaving through defenders for a 56-yard return. Carr fired another 20-yard TD pass to Gilbert to extend the lead to 24-3 with 12:05 left in the third quarter. 

Hurricanes battle back 

Miami, however, responded with a pair of TD passes from Mensah on back-to-back drives, a 12-yard TD to Elija Lofton and an 18-yard TD to Cooper Barkate, to trim the lead to 24-17 with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter. ND’s star corner Leonard Moore was on the bench for both of those TDs with a head injury, but returned and finished the game.

Notre Dame linebacker Luke Talich intercepted Mensah on the next drive, but Miami still had momentum. The Irish ended that with a fourth-and-3 conversion from Carr to running back Nolan James Jr. for a 36-yard gain on a swing pass, and a face-mask penalty set up James’ 1-yard TD run. Carr raised his arms in triumph with 12:55 remaining. 

Miami answered yet again with another TD drive and 1-yard TD pass from Mensah to Barkate with 9:53 remaining. Notre Dame kicker Spencer Porath missed a 53-yard field goal with 5:49 remaining, which gave the Hurricanes a chance at a game-tying drive. 

Mensah put Miami in scoring position with a 41-yard pass to Lofton, who was chased down by Moore. It would come down to a fourth-and-6 from the 18-yard line, when Mensah feathered a pass to Lofton, who came down with the ball inbounds but did not complete the catch out of bounds. Talich got the pass breakup. It was shades of Miami running back Cleveland Gary’s fumble at the goal line in 1988 – the score was exactly the same – but nowhere near as conclusive. 

“He went up to make the catch, we’re just taught to go through the hands and finish the play, and so that’s what I did,” Talich said. 

When asked if Talich knows that history, he smiled.

“Coach gives us the history of the game,” Talich said. “The score was very similar up to that point. It’s cool to be a part of that, sure.”

Miami’s last-second lateral attempt failed on the final play, and Notre Dame celebrated its moment – the first victory against No. 1 in South Bend since a 47-40 double-overtime thriller against No. 1 Clemson on Nov. 7, 2020. The Irish made the CFP semifinals that season. This year’s team has a much-higher ceiling. 

Notre Dame Stadium continues to be a haunted house for the Hurricanes since their last victory there in 1984. The loss brings up questions about their functionality without Toney in the final three laps of the ACC championship race. Mensah finished 22 of 40 for 285 yards, three TDs and an interception. 

The Irish, meanwhile, promise to vault into the thick of the national championship race. This was the gotta-have-it game, especially after the disparity between their ranking in the AP Top 25 and the CFP rankings. Freeman, still wanting to enjoy the moment, said, “I want time to stop right now because I know tomorrow is coming.”

About the next CFP rankings on Tuesday? 

“It really doesn’t matter where you’re ranked,” Freeman said. “We learned that last year. It doesn’t matter where you’re ranked until the last week. That’s the truth. We don’t need to focus on it. We don’t need to talk about it. Our job was to leave no doubt today, and they did.”

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