Notre Dame Holds Off Miami 31-24 in a Duel of Top Teams
Miami arrived unbeaten at 8-0, and Notre Dame arrived at 7-1. Notre Dame beat Miami 31-24, and the Fighting Irish never trailed at any point.
CJ Carr threw 3 touchdown passes to two receivers, 27 yards to Jordan Faison and 18 and 20 yards to Micah Gilbert, and Notre Dame led 24-3 early in the third quarter. Miami's Darian Mensah answered with a flurry: a 12-yard touchdown to Elija Lofton at 8:26 and a 12-yard touchdown to Cooper Barkate at 5:29, and the Hurricanes were back to 24-17. Nolan James Jr. ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 12:55 left in the fourth, and Mensah and Barkate connected again from the 1 with 9:53 left to make it 31-24. There were no more points.
The yardage says it was close. Notre Dame had 413 total yards (319 passing, 94 rushing) and Miami had 377 (276 passing, 101 rushing). The difference was turnovers: Miami threw an interception and lost a fumble, and Notre Dame had none. Two giveaways to none, in a seven-point game.
Mensah had a heavy night for a losing quarterback: 24-of-43 for 276 yards, three touchdowns and the interception, plus 11 carries for 28 yards. Carr was 29-of-40 for 319 yards and had no turnovers. Both teams are 8-1 after the game. The loss leaves Miami with a lot to think about, and Notre Dame with the win.
For fantasy, three players landed within a point of each other. Mensah got 31.8, Barkate 31.2 on 10 catches and two touchdowns (even with a lost fumble) and Carr 31.1.