NOTRE DAME STADIUM (South Bend, Ind.) — The bar is set high for real history at Notre Dame, but when the final play ended and the Fighting Irish knew they had a 31-24 upset of then-No. 1 Miami, quarterback CJ Carr couldn’t savor the moment enough.
“I was trying to enjoy it some more,” Carr said after throwing three touchdowns in a win important enough that fans stormed the field Saturday night. “They kept trying to offer me over to talk to people. I’m like ‘Dude, let me go celebrate this sucker.’ We earned this thing. Let’s go. Let’s go hang with the crowd and our teammates.”
There was so much to celebrate. A year ago, in his first start, Carr had seen Notre Dame take a loss at Miami in the season opener — a loss that ultimately kept the Fighting Irish out of the College Football Playoff. So Saturday night was a chance for Carr to show how far he had come, how much he had grown since the last time he faced the Hurricanes.
Notre Dame fans storm the field following the upset win over then-No. 1 Miami in college football’s Week 10 on Saturday. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“A huge difference,” Carr said. “My dad called me before this game, said he’d watched that game, and his words were like there was a boy playing, you know, at Miami for my first start. So it was cool to see this team be able to come out with a win today. It means so much to every person in that locker room individually and then as a collective as well.”
As big as the win was for Notre Dame, it was also huge for Carr, who out-dueled Miami’s Darian Mensah in a showdown of two of this year’s top Heisman Trophy candidates. Both are likely behind Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, but in the biggest head-to-head battle of the regular season, Carr avoided mistakes — Mensah threw just his second interception of the season — and most importantly led his team to victory.
Miami — which played without star receiver Malachi Toney due to an ankle injury — mounted a comeback in the second half. But Notre Dame built a 24-3 lead, and much of that separation came at the end of the first half.
Only up 10-3, facing a third down at his own 25, Carr spun out of a potential sack, reversed back 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, then found running back Aneyas Williams to move the chains. He completed three straight passes for 10, 18 and 19 yards, and after one miss, he threw an 18-yard touchdown to receiver Micah Gilbert for a 17-3 halftime lead.
“Every game it just gets better, through the constant work in practice, through all the reps we put in together,” Gilbert said of his rapport with Carr, good for nine catches for 98 yards and two scores. “(Saturday) was just another example of us putting the work in and coming out and being able to showcase it.”
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman talked to his players about the rivalry with Miami, about the famed 1988 “Catholics vs. Convicts” game, which also had the Hurricanes unbeaten and No. 1 and the Fighting Irish ranked fourth by the Associated Press.
The late Lou Holtz was honored by Notre Dame on Saturday, and the game carried the weight of past meetings and then some.
“What a night! What a moment for this program, for this university, for so many people that love this place,” Freeman said postgame, as fans could still be heard cheering outside. “A special moment, and it’s hard to describe. We’re grateful for the people that helped this team get to that point and find a way to get that victory. I’m so proud of those guys and the way they battle.”
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah looks to pass against Notre Dame in the second half of the Hurricanes’ first loss of the season. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Mensah rallied the Hurricanes with two touchdowns in a span of three minutes, so it was just a 24-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-2 at the Miami 43 and took a risk by going for it. Carr found running back Nolan James wide open down the left sideline for a 36-yard gain to the seven-yard line, and Carr’s keeper on third-and-goal drew a facemask penalty that set up James’ one-yard touchdown for what would ultimately end up as the margin of victory.
“I feel like we made a big statement,” said Carr, who finished 29 of 40 for 319 yards and three touchdowns, the third-highest yardage total of his college career. “I feel like we’re a great team. I feel like everybody knows we’re a great team, but tonight kind of showed what we’re capable of doing.”
Notre Dame likely will face, at most, one more ranked opponent, SMU, before the College Football Playoff begins, closing out the regular season with Boston College (4-5), the Mustangs (7-2) and Syracuse (4-5).
Wide receiver Micah Gilbert goes in for the touchdown late in the first half against Miami in Notre Dame’s revenge win vs. the Hurricanes in Week 10. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
So if the Fighting Irish take care of those three, they’re in good shape to be a top-4 team when the playoff field is announced. Had they lost to Miami, they might have found themselves on the bubble to make the playoff, something they wanted to avoid after missing the cut a year ago.
This season had a deep and talented quarterback class, competing not only for the Heisman but for positioning at the top of the 2027 NFL Draft.
You’ve already seen top prospects like Oregon’s Dante Moore and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin lost to long-term injuries, and Texas’ Arch Manning led the team to back-to-back losses to unranked teams. That set up Saturday as the two best quarterbacks left standing, and gave Carr a huge platform to prove himself against the No. 1 team in the nation.
“I think myself, and the offense as a whole, has continued to just elevate as the year has gone on,” he said. “It’s been an exciting experience to be in a locker room with those guys in there and such amazing people and players, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
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