Coach Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish welcomed Mario Cristobal's Miami Hurricanes to Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana and rode 14 second-quarter points to a 31-24 win on a day when Darian Mensah was demolished in a goal-line stand. Irish QB CJ Carr connected with Jordan Faison on a spectacular play that gave the home team a 10-0 lead they wouldn't look back on.
Notre Dame was ranked 11th in the CFP Selection Committee's latest poll, but knocked off the Committee's top team after staving off a wild second-half comeback. The Irish win capped a day of upsets among Top 25 teams with the lower-ranked team winning four of seven matchups.
Carr staked his claim for the Heisman Trophy with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns while Micah Gilbert added 98 receiving yards and two scores through the air, showing the improved depth of Freeman's team.
Article Continues BelowThe Fighting Irish might have made the CFP with a loss, but they didn't want to leave anything to chance, as they showed in their huge win over the top team in all the land on Saturday, November 7.
The Irish made Jason Sudeikis look good as they fulfilled his pre-game prediction. Notre Dame slightly outgained Miami by a tally of 412 yards to 403 while also winning the time of possession war by a slight margin. Everything came together swimmingly for Freeman's team as they staked their claim as one of the nation's best teams, avenging their earlier season upset loss at the hands of the BYU Cougars in Utah.